DUBAI // The former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf yesterday set a date of next March 23 for his return to his homeland to stand for elections under his newly formed political party.
He said he would fly to Lahore on Pakistan's National Day because the city was where the 1940 Pakistan Resolution calling for greater Muslim autonomy in British-ruled India was signed.
Elections are scheduled for 2013. Mr Musharraf plans to run for a seat in parliament under the All Pakistan Muslim League, whose formation he announced in London last October, despite the fear of him being arrested on arrival in the country.
"I am going to land in Lahore on the 23rd of March, 2012, if not earlier - but not later," he said.
Within Pakistan, Mr Musharraf's return would not be widely welcomed, said Cyril Almeida, a columnist with the Pakistani newspaper Dawn. His popularity plummeted by the time he resigned as army chief in 2007, then stepped down as president the following year before he left Pakistan, he added.
"It's a non-starter," said Mr Almeida. "He doesn't have any genuine political support."
Mr Musharraf faces an arrest warrant in connection with the assassination of the former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007, apparently after a federal agency linked him to the case, his spokesman said earlier this year.
As in previous press conferences, he shrugged off the arrest concerns or that he himself could be assassinated, though both, he acknowledged, were possibilities.
"I'm a risk taker," he said.
Mr Musharraf said he had not secured any deals with the Pakistani government or any political parties to secure a safe return. Nor had he sought any backing from foreign governments. He said he was focusing instead on strengthening his party and rebuilding his popularity.
When asked about the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan's garrison town of Abbottabad, not far from the capital, Mr Musharraf denied any members of Pakistan's intelligence agency could have known the al Qa'eda founder had been hiding there.
In recent media reports he had been quoted as saying that "rogue elements" in Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence might have known about bin Laden's whereabouts.
He blamed, instead, a failure of intelligence and urged Pakistanis to stress this as a way to defend the ISI's reputation.
"It was not complicity. It is a failure or incompetence," he said.
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Match info
Deccan Gladiators 87-8
Asif Khan 25, Dwayne Bravo 2-16
Maratha Arabians 89-2
Chadwick Walton 51 not out
Arabians won the final by eight wickets
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
Bio
Age: 25
Town: Al Diqdaqah – Ras Al Khaimah
Education: Bachelors degree in mechanical engineering
Favourite colour: White
Favourite place in the UAE: Downtown Dubai
Favourite book: A Life in Administration by Ghazi Al Gosaibi.
First owned baking book: How to Be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson.
MATCH RESULT
Liverpool 4 Brighton and Hove Albion 0
Liverpool: Salah (26'), Lovren (40'), Solanke (53'), Robertson (85')
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
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Who has been sanctioned?
Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.
Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.
Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.
Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.
