Officials: Plane carrying Musharraf’s body lands in Pakistan

Karachi, Pakistan — A special plane carrying the body of former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf from the United Arab Emirates arrived in Karachi on Monday amid tight security, immigration officials said.

Members of his family were also on board when the plane landed at the city’s airport where he will be buried on Tuesday. Musharraf, who died aged 79, seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999 toppling the elected government of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Musharraf died in Dubai on Sunday after a long illness.

During his tenure as president, Musharraf made Pakistan a key Washington ally in the war on terror after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. This angered militants who attempted at least twice to assassinate him in the town of Rawalpindi in 2003, but he escaped unscathed.

Musharraf was forced to resign in 2008 by former President Asif Ali Zardari’s party when his allies lost parliamentary elections. Pakistan later allowed him to leave the country on bail to travel to Dubai in 2016 for medical treatment. He remained there after being sentenced to death for treason.

Last year, Pakistan said Musharraf would not be arrested if his family wanted to take him home. But doctors for Musharraf and his family said his treatment was not available in Pakistan.