DHAKA: Former Pakistan ruler Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday asked a court to let him leave the country to visit his sick mother in Dubai, legal sources said.

Musharraf is facing four major criminal cases dating back to his 1999-2008 rule of the nuclear-armed nation, including one related to the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

Tuesday’s move could open the way for the 70-year-old to leave Pakistan before his cases are completed, saving the powerful military the embarrassment of having its former chief tried and potentially sentenced by civilian courts.

He is on bail in all four cases, though he remains under guard at his Islamabad farmhouse because of Taliban threats to his life.

But he is unable to leave Pakistan as his name appears on the government’s ‘exit control list’, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 1915 HRS, NOV 12, 2013
RoR/RK