Musharraf leaves for Dubai to ‘seek medical treatment’

Islamabad, March 18 (IANS) Pakistan's former president Pervez Musharraf on Friday left for Dubai, hours after the interior ministry issued a notification to remove his name from the exit control list (ECL).

Before leaving, Musharraf told Dawn, "I am a commando and I love my homeland. I will come back in a few weeks or months."

The former president, vowing to face all pending cases against him, said he was keeping himself abreast with developments in the country and will actively take part in politics after his return.

Musharraf said he was going abroad to seek "medical treatment of a decade-old illness which has now developed several complications."

On Thursday, Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan announced at a press conference that the government had decided to allow Musharraf to travel abroad for treatment after the Supreme Court lifted a ban on Musharraf's foreign travel on Wednesday.

According to the minister, Musharraf had committed to facing all cases against him in court and had "promised to return in four to six weeks".

Farogh Naseem, Musharraf’s counsel, had also earlier said his client needed to go abroad to "undergo a surgery for a fractured vertebra," treatment for which he said "is not available in Pakistan."

Musharraf, who is facing a treason trial for clamping emergency in the country on November 3, 2007, was barred from travelling abroad after his name was placed on the ECL on April 5, 2013.

He is scheduled to record his statement to a special three-judge court on March 31 in the treason case against him.