Musharraf: Bail for Pakistani Ex-Leader Paves Way for His Exit

By DECLAN WALSH- A Pakistani court granted bail on Wednesday to Pervez Musharraf, the country’s former military ruler, clearing the way for him to leave the country as early as Thursday, his lawyers said. Mr. Musharraf, 70, has been under house arrest at his villa outside Islamabad since April, facing criminal charges in three cases related to his nine years in power, from 1999 to 2008. The prospect of a former army chief facing potential imprisonment appeared, for a time, to signal new limits to the unofficial immunity from prosecution that Pakistan’s top generals have long enjoyed. Mr. Musharraf had already been granted bail in two of the three cases, and the decision on Wednesday to grant bail in the third — related to the death of Akbar Khan Bugti, a Baluch nationalist leader killed in a military operation — opens the door for him to avoid prosecution entirely. Mr. Musharraf’s lawyers said that his bail payment of $20,000 could be processed as early as Thursday morning; he could then leave Pakistan immediately. Ahmad Raza Khan Qasuri, the vice president of Mr. Musharraf’s political party, the All Pakistan Muslim League, said that Mr. Musharraf might go to see his 90-year-old mother. “He’s a free person — he can go out whenever he likes,” Mr. Qasuri said in a telephone interview. “His mother, who is a very aged lady, lives in Dubai. He might go tomorrow or the day after to see her. But his base will continue to be in Islamabad.” Still, Mr. Musharraf has rebuffed previous entreaties from his advisers, and from senior military leaders, to leave Pakistan, particularly if doing so would prevent him from returning to fight his battles in court. Aides say that Mr. Musharraf, a former commando with a famous stubborn streak, insists on clearing his name and does not want to spend his retirement in exile. But for the military, his case has become an unwelcome distraction, complicating relations among the army, the civilian government and the courts, and raising the prospect of a troubling precedent. Mohammed Amjad, secretary general of Mr. Musharraf’s party, told reporters outside his home that if Mr. Musharraf leaves Pakistan, it will be only temporarily. “He will not escape from Pakistan,” Mr. Amjad said. Mr. Musharraf has been detained at his luxurious farmhouse outside Islamabad rather than in prison for security reasons, following Taliban threats to his life. Aides say he has been confined to two rooms in the house, which has a swimming pool and sweeping lawns, and has had limited access to his friends and family. Still, in a country where senior military officers are generally considered to be above the law, the sight of a former military ruler facing justice in a civilian court is a startling novelty. Besides the three current criminal cases, Mr. Musharraf faces potential treason charges over his role in suspending the Constitution in 2007, though few analysts believe that the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is likely to go ahead with those charges. Mr. Musharraf was disqualified from running in the general election in May, in which his party performed poorly. More generally, few Pakistanis have shown much enthusiasm for returning him to power. One factor in Mr. Musharraf’s present calculation might be the position of his nemesis, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, whom he tried to fire in 2007. With Mr. Chaudhry due to retire in December, analysts say that Mr. Musharraf might be waiting until then to decide whether his long-term future lies in or out of Pakistan.