Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf is said to be in stable condition even as the doctors ascertain the need for sending him abroad for treatment, a media report said Saturday.
“The general is feeling well and we are conducting his medical check up at regular intervals… every two hours,” The Nation quoted Major General (retd.) Azhar Kiyani, one of the top doctors treating Musharraf, as saying Friday.
“It is, however, not decided whether to send him abroad for treatment,” Kiyani added.
After failing, for the second time in 10 days, to appear Wednesday in the special court formed to try him on charges of high treason, Musharraf was being taken to the court Thursday when he complained of a “heart problem” and was then shifted to the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology (AFIC) in Rawalpindi.
So far, no official statement has been issued by the army-run hospital about Musharraf’s condition.
Musharraf remained under observation of senior cardiologists at Cardiac Care Unit-II of the hospital for the second consecutive day Friday.
Senior cardiologist Major General Imran Majid, along with his six-member team, examined Musharraf and took his blood samples for conducting medical tests.
“The medical reports are said to be sent to foreign cardiologists for consultation. It will be decided whether or not the former president will continue his treatment at the AFIC after consultation with foreign cardiac specialists and tests’ results,” the report quoted sources as saying.
Nobody is allowed to see Musharraf in the Cardiac Care Unit-II except the medical team, the report added.
The former army chief spent Friday with his family, including his daughter and wife, and vowed to face trial in Pakistan.
“He’s not going abroad. Rather, he will face the charges levelled against him,” said a source close to Musharraf.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Army troops, Elite Force and Rangers were deployed to increase security in and around the hospital.
According to media reports, the option of shifting Musharraf abroad for treatment was under consideration but a decision in this regard would be taken only after his medical report is made available by the hospital.
A petition was filed in the Islamabad High Court Friday to prevent the former army ruler from going abroad for medical treatment.
Musharraf’s name is still on the list of people who cannot go abroad without the government’s permission. A court has already turned down his request to remove his name from the Exit Control List (ECL) and advised him to approach the government.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced in June 2013 that a high treason case against the former military chief would be initiated for suspending the constitution.
Musharraf took over in a bloodless coup when he dismissed the government of Nawaz Sharif in 1999.
The 70-year-old currently lives in his farmhouse in Islamabad after getting bail in three high profile cases, including the 2007 assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
Musharraf, who stepped down in 2008 and went into exile, returned to Pakistan in March 2013 to contest in parliamentary elections. However, a court disqualified him from standing in the May 2013 elections which his bete noire Nawaz Sharif won.
Musharraf’s condition stable, no word on treatment abroad added by Indian newspaper Sydney on
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