The Pakistani Spectator

Pakistan’s former military dictator Pervez Musharraf arrived in London on Sunday. This is his first visit abroad after he resigned from the post of president to escape imminent impeachment in August this year.

India’s leading TV channel NDTV reports that “Musharraf’s visit comes amidst much speculation that he is planning on settling in the UK and is not intending to return to Pakistan.”

There were “no cameras, and almost no mention of Musharraf’s visit in the British media.” This must have been a shock for Musharraf who was until recently glamorized by the American and the British media as the knight in the shining armour fighting the West’s war against terrorism.

“The former president arrived in London on a regular Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight. He was received by a handful of people, no one more senior than the deputy high commissioner of the Pakistani embassy in the UK.

“The contrast could not have been more striking. Just months ago, Pervez’s visit to the UK was one of the most widely covered visits by any foreign leader. He was the man who held the key to Pakistan’s destiny, and some would say, the world’s stability.”