Musharraf’s camp office vacated

Published August 22, 2008

ISLAMABAD, Aug 21: Following resignation of Pervez Musharraf from the office of president, his camp office established in a grand building in Rawalpindi has been vacated, a source told Dawn on Thursday.

Goods including furniture, rugs, security equipments, statues, paintings and portraits which were sent to the office from the President House in Islamabad have also been retrieved.

“As the retrieved goods were in big quantity, they were taken back to the President House in three trucks,” the source said.

The grand pre-partition building of the camp office is one of the historical buildings in the country. It was first declared as president house by former president Ayub Khan and then it remained under the use of Yahya Khan. Former prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto after taking charge of the office of PM declared the building as prime minister house. The building also remained under the use of former Benazir Bhutto during her first tenure.

The camp office of Pervez Musharraf was part of the Army House which had recently been declared as President’s Lodge with a view to prolong his stay in it, while the existing residence of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani was declared as Army House.

It is expected that the previous status of the original Army House will be restored soon and former president will leave the spacious building in near future.

And because of this, it is strong possibility that Musharraf will prefer to leave the country instead of staying in the country due to security concerns.

The source said the price tags on the furniture and other goods removed from the camp office were evident of luxurious life the rulers of the country live. “The price tags found on the backside of the rugs have shown their costs ranging from Rs250,000 to Rs300,000,” the source said.

A senior security official told this reporter that if the president left the country, the only reason could be his security concerns. “If he leaves the President’s Lodge, there will be no other secure place for him in the country,” the official said.

The official ruled out the possibility that the former president would opt to live in his farm house being constructed at Chak Shahzad, Islamabad, as, he added, he would not have required security there.

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