BBC: The political career of Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan’s most recent military ruler who has died aged 79, was defined by its extremes.
After seizing power in a 1999 coup, Musharraf went on to survive numerous assassination attempts – finding himself on the front line of the struggle between militant Islam and the West.
Notably, he formed an alliance with the United States, claiming it helped him modernise Pakistan and improve the economy.
But by 2008, the career soldier had suffered defeat at the polls and was forced from office. His political career ultimately ended in disgrace and arrest: he was sentenced to death in absentia for treason in 2019.
He had been allowed to leave Pakistan in 2016 to receive medical treatment, meaning the sentence was unlikely ever to be carried out. But it was a humiliating first for the military, which has ruled the country for long spells.
In June 2022, following premature reports Musharraf had died in Dubai, his family announced there was little chance he would recover from multiple organ failure linked to a rare disease from which he suffered, amyloidosis.
