KARACHI // Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf announced yesterday he would return to Pakistan this month and prepare for elections.
Mr Musharraf's first challenge may be to avoid arrest on his arrival.
On Saturday, state prosecutors said they planned to detain the former army chief on charges he failed to provide security for former prime minister Benazir Bhutto ahead of her assassination in 2008.
While much remains unpredictable, commentators have speculated that the army will not allow Mr Musharraf to be arrested, setting up fresh conflict between the military and the unpopular government of President Asif Ali Zardari.
Addressing a rally in Karachi from Dubai via a live video link yesterday, Mr Musharraf told several thousand supporters he would return between January 27 and January 30.
In apparent reference to the charges against him, he said: "I am coming to Pakistan, but there are attempts to scare me off. There are baseless cases against me, but we will face those cases in court."
Mr Musharraf took power in a 1999 coup and stepped down in 2008. He has been living in London and Dubai since then, planning a comeback.
Legal troubles aside, few give him much chance of success.
Mr Musharraf was widely disliked by the time he stepped down, and many of his supporters have since joined other parties.
But he has money, and his army connections still count for something, even if it is unclear whether the current military leadership will support him.
Elections are not scheduled until 2013, but there has been increasing speculation that Mr Zardari may go to the polls this year.
Mr Zardari is under pressure from the military over a memo sent to Washington seeking its help in stopping a supposed coup.
On Saturday, Mr Zardari said he had no intention of stepping down over the memo scandal, as critics have called on him to do.
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Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
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