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Pervez Musharraf in 2008
Photo: FAROOQ NAEEM/ AFP
Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has died.
This is reported by the Pakistani »Geo News«, citing his family, and »Dunya News«, citing a source from diplomatic circles.
According to the Reuters news agency, the Pakistani embassy in the United Arab Emirates confirmed the death.
According to the two Pakistani media reports, Musharraf died at the age of 79 in a Dubai hospital.
Musharraf seized power as a general in a bloodless coup in 1999.
He was Pakistan's head of state from 2001 to 2008 and declared a state of emergency in 2007 to extend his term as president.
Because, according to an anti-terrorist court, this violated the constitution, he was sentenced to death in 2019 for high treason.
At the time, however, he was in exile ill and had gone to Dubai in 2008.
The death sentence was later ruled unconstitutional by a court and overturned.
dictator and reformer
During his time as president, Musharraf formally turned the country into a dictatorship and flouted the law.
At the same time, in the first few years of his reign, he had introduced reforms for which he received international recognition: He pushed through laws protecting women's rights and allowed private news channels for the first time.
Musharraf also steered the country through the post-9/11 terrorist attacks. He cracked down on extremism in his country, under pressure from the United States.
As a result, however, he himself was targeted by extremists, while anti-American sentiment in the country rose.
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