Musharraf returns home,says will ‘save’ Pak

Musharraf landed at the Jinnah international airport by a chartered Emirates flight from Dubai

Ending nearly four years of self-imposed exile,Pakistans former president Pervez Musharraf returned home on Sunday,defying threats of arrest and assassination by Taliban,to take part in the May 11 general elections.

Musharraf,69,along with a delegation of around 150 people,including supporters from his All Pakistan Muslim League and journalists,landed at the Jinnah international airport here by a chartered Emirates flight from Dubai.

It is (a) very emotional (moment), he said. There are a lot of challenges. There are security challenges,legal challenges,political challenges. But I will face them, he added.

Story continues below this ad

Where are the people who said I will never return home. I have been receiving death threats and some people have been trying to scare me,but I have returned home for the sake of my country and people, said Musharraf.

I have taken a big risk returning home now. But tears come to my eyes seeing the state of the country. I ask where is the Pakistan I left… I have come back for you. I want to restore the Pakistan I left, he said.

My party slogan today is save Pakistan. I am thankful and happy to see so many people come to welcome me, he said.

Musharraf left Pakistan on April 19,2009,saying he was going abroad for a series of lectures. He did not return from that trip and several courts issued arrest warrants for him in connection with the killings of Benazir Bhutto and Baloch nationalist leader Akbar Bugti.