ISLAMABAD: The government has decided in principle to allow former military ruler retired General Pervez Musharraf to leave the country, an official source told Dawn on Saturday.

He said Gen Musharraf had filed a written application with the Interior Ministry, seeking permission to fly to Saudi Arabia to condole the death of King Abdullah.

Read: Musharraf seeks permission to offer condolences – in Saudi Arabia

In the application addressed to Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Mr Musharraf – whose name is on the exit control list (ECL) – sought a relaxation of the travel ban placed on him so that he could fly to Saudi Arabia and meet members of the royal family.

The source said the interior minister was among the few members of the cabinet who had been trying to persuade the PML-N leadership to soften its stance on Mr Musharraf, particularly when the PTI’s sit-in was ongoing and there were rumours of a military takeover.

Also read| Saudi King Shah Abdullah dies; Salman becomes new king

However, there was no official confirmation of the decision from the interior ministry, which is being run without a spokesman for months.

A spokesman for the Prime Minister’s Office, however, clarified late on Saturday night that “we have not received any request from Musharraf for permission to travel abroad”.

But retired Maj Gen Rashid Qureshi, a spokesman for the former president, said that a request had been sent to the ministry, but no formal communication had so far been received in response to the request. He also expressed surprise over the statement from the PM’s Office and described it as a lie.

“The prime minister knows nothing if he does not know what is happening in the interior ministry,” he remarked.

SLAIN CLERIC’S SON: In a related development, Haroon Rashid, the son of former Lal Masjid chief cleric Abdul Rasheed, who was killed during a military operation in July 2007, filed a petition with the Interior Ministry on Saturday, urging it not to remove Mr Musharraf’s name from the ECL until a verdict in cases pending against him over the murder of his father and grandmother.

In the petition, sent to the Interior Ministry through Tariq Asad advocate, he asked the ministry not to allow Mr Musharraf to leave Pakistan “for the sake of justice”. Otherwise, the petition warned, the Interior Ministry would be responsible for frustrating justice.

It said that if the former president, who faces multiple high-profile cases, including high treason and murder, was allowed to proceed abroad, he would be able to escape his trial and would never come back.

Published in Dawn January 25th , 2015

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