From the sweeping presidential palace of Islamabad to an unassuming three-bedroom apartment behind the shisha bars and kebab joints of London's Arabic quarter - one might have expected Pervez Musharraf to do better.

But retirement has been an unsettling experience for Pakistan's former military ruler who, hounded by the threat of prosecution at home, finds himself living in the traditional bolthole of Pakistan's political class.

His simple apartment in a red-brick complex off London's Edgware Road is a sobering change from the pomp of Musharraf's nine-year rule. Gone are the legions of political acolytes; gone, too, are the liveried soldiers who snap to attention.

But security remains tight. The retired general is guarded by a small team of retired Pakistani commandos, which he pays for himself, and - more controversially - a protection detail from Scotland Yard.

The retired dictator's digs are not cheap - the apartment, thought to cost over GBP1m, is furnished with fine silk carpets and leather sofas - but neither are they large. A modest living room overlooks rain-laden skies. A small study contains mementoes of past and present a framed Time magazine cover picturing the bluff general under the headline The Toughest Job in the World; a model cruise ship from a recent holiday; a biography of London.

The question is how long he will stay. The retired ruler, looking relaxed in a cardigan and with his black hair newly dyed, declined to comment on the furore surrounding him in Pakistan. But he was clear about one thing “I am not in exile.”

Back home in Islamabad, the opposition is baying for his blood. Nawaz Sharif, the former prime minister Musharraf ousted in a coup in 1999, wants him tried for treason, a charge that carries the death penalty.

The Supreme Court is also controlled by an enemy, the chief justice, Iftikhar Chaudhry.

Yet few pundits believe Musharraf will face trial in the near future. The army opposes a treason charge. So does the civilian president, Asif Zardari, who fears it could upset fragile civil-military relations. Nevertheless, they consider it wiser if the general, who resigned 13 months ago, stays away for now.

The general finds himself in a city where he once banished rivals such as Sharif and Benazir Bhutto. His three-bedroom apartment is a far cry from the penthouses owned by Sharif in London's chic and upmarket Park Lane - proof, supporters say, that he did not greatly enrich himself in office.

Still, he lives well, dining at the Dorchester hotel, playing golf and hosting musical evenings at home. A recent YouTube video revealed him to be an accomplished Urdu singer. He regularly plays bridge with his confidante, Brigadier Niaz Ahmed, a retired arms dealer, and insists on protocol.

A senior Pakistani official said that Musharraf pays GBP450 to hire an official VIP lounge every time he flies from or to London-Heathrow airport, and travels in a bulletproof vehicle. However, it is the nature and cost of his taxpayer-funded protection that is most controversial.

Lord Nazir Ahmed, a trenchant critic in the UK House of Lords, tabled a parliamentary question about the cost of these security arrangements in July. The government replied that it was “established Home Office policy not to comment on protective security arrangements and their related costs”.

Nazir said “Our old age pensioners don't get security, so how can we pay for an old general who wants to enjoy himself in London?”

The Pakistan-born peer said he was collecting evidence for a possible war crimes prosecution through Bindmans solicitors, who pursued the retired Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet through the British courts in the late 1990s.

Perhaps recognising that a prolonged stay in London could be problematic, British government officials do not want Musharraf to remain for long. A senior official said he was on a visitor's visa and predicted he would take up permanent residence in the Middle East or in the US, where his son Bilal lives.

For now, though, Musharraf is polishing his public speaking he starts a 40-day lecture tour of the US next Tuesday. He has said the talks will focus on his expertise about Islamic militancy, but also seek to redress Pakistan's poor international image. “Pakistan is a most misunderstood country,” he said. “I enjoy the opportunity to clear up misperceptions.”

In particular, he is expected to be critical of Washington's close relationship with India - reflecting a view widely held in Pakistani military circles. Some journalists have already dubbed Musharraf the “army ambassador” to London.

The 16 lectures are organised by the Harry Walker Agency, whose other speakers include Musharraf's erstwhile partner in the “war on terror”, former US vice-president Dick Cheney.—Dawn/The Guardian News Service