Biographies of main political leaders of Pakistan

INCUMBENT POLITICAL LEADERS

ASIF ALI ZARDARI

President of Pakistan since 2008
Asif Ali Zardari is the eleventh and current President of Pa-
kistan. He is the Co-Chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party
(PPP), a role he took on following the demise of his wife,
Benazir Bhutto. Zardari rose to prominence in 1987 after
his marriage to Benazir Bhutto, holding cabinet positions in
both the 1990s PPP governments, and quickly acquired a
reputation for corrupt practices. He was arrested in 1996
after the dismissal of the second government of Bena-
zir Bhutto, and remained incarcerated for eight years on
various charges of corruption. Released in 2004 amid ru-
mours of reconciliation between Pervez Musharraf and the
PPP, Zardari went into self-imposed exile in Dubai. He re-
turned in December 2007 following Bhuttos assassination.

www.presidentofpakistan.gov.pk
In 2008, as Co-Chairman of PPP he led his party to victory
in the general elections. He was elected as President on
September 6, 2008, following the resignation of Pervez
Musharraf. His early years in power were characterised
by widespread unrest due to his perceived reluctance to
reinstate the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (who had
been dismissed during the Musharraf imposed emergency
of 2007). However, he has also overseen the passage of
the 18th Amendment to the Constitution which effectively
reduced presidential powers to that of a ceremonial figure- Asif Ali Zardari, President
head. He remains, however, a highly controversial figure
and continues to be dogged by allegations of corruption.
Mohmmad government as Minister of Housing and Public
Works. In 1988 changed political party and joined the Pa-
Complete version of the Biography of Asif Ali Zardari kistan Peoples Party (PPP), with whom he entered the gov-
at CIDOBs website: http://www.cidob.org/es/ ernment of Benazir Bhutto as federal minister of Tourism,
documentacion/biografias_lideres_politicos/(filtro)/ to spend a year later to reoccupy the portfolio of Housing
pais/(pais)/1133 and Public Works. In 1993 he was sworn in as President
of the National Assembly after the election victory of PPP.
His leading as main political opposition to the military re-
gime of President Musharraf cost him five years in prison
YOUSAF RAZA GILANI on charges of corruption, between 2001 and 2006. So far,
Prime Minister of Pakistan since 2008 Gilani is the longest serving Prime Minister of Pakistan, with
Yousaf Raza Gilani is the current Prime Minister of Pakistan. 45 months in power. The challenges facing Gilani are ending
He was nominated as Prime Minister by the PPP, with the Islamist terrorism and tribal insurgency.
support of its coalition partners in March 2008.
Gilani belongs to a family of politicians and Shiite religious
Complete version of the Biography of Yousaf Raza
of the district of Multan, in Punjab province. Graduated in
Gilani at CIDOBs website: http://www.cidob.org/es/
journalism from the University of Punjab, in 1976 he began
documentacion/biografias_lideres_politicos/(filtro)/
his political career in the Pakistan Muslim League (PML).
pais/(pais)/1133
In 1983 he gained his first elected position as president
of Multan District and in 1985 he won a seat as an inde-
pendent in the National Assembly, joining the Khan Junejo
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Pakistan: Country Profile

CHAUDHRY AHMED MUKHTAR

Minister of Defence
Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, a prominent businessman,
joined the PPP in 1990, and immediately made a mark
by defeating a Muslim League stalwart, Chaudhry Shu-
jaat Hussain, in the general election of 1993. His early
electoral success against an established political family
hastened his rise in the party hierarchy, and he was made
Minister for Commerce, a position at which he served
for three years from 1993 to 1996. He did not win a
seat in the elections of 1997, but served as Secretary
General of the PPP from 1997 to 1999. In 2002, during

www.pakistan.gov.pk
the Musharraf government, he was arrested on charges
of corruption (pertaining to his tenure as Commerce Min-
ister) and spent a year in jail before being acquitted. He
again defeated Chaudhry Shujaat of the Muslim League
to win a seat in the National Assembly in the elections
of 2008, and was one of the contenders for the slot of Yousaf Raza Gilani, Prime Minister
Prime Minister in the new PPP-led coalition. Although he
was not made the Prime Minister, he was compensated
with the important portfolio of Defense. He has recently
spoken out publicly for the restoration of NATO supply
routes through Pakistan, provided NATO agrees to more
favorable terms of compensation for use of the routes.

HINA RABBANI KHAR

Minister Foreign Affairs
Hina Rabbani Khar belongs to a prominent feudal family of
southern Punjab. Her uncle was the Governor of the Pun-
jab in the early 1970s, and was a prominent PPP leader.
Other members of the family have also been active in poli-
tics. Ms. Khar was thrown into politics in 2002, when a
new law came into effect, which stipulated that parliamen-

www.mod.gov.pk
tarians must have college degrees. Since her landlord fa-
ther did not have the requisite academic qualifications, he
asked his daughter, a graduate of the Lahore University of
Management Sciences and Amherst College in the US, to
fight the election in his stead. With minimal campaigning Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, Minister of Defence
and no public appearances (in deference to the cultural
traditions of the area), she was elected as a member of
the National Assembly on a PML(Q) ticket. She served
CIDOB International Yearbook 2012

as State Minister for Economic Affairs in the cabinet of

Shaukat Aziz from 2004 to 2007.
Ms. Khar was refused a ticket for the elections of 2008
by PML(Q), and decided to join the PPP and fight the
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election on a PPP ticket. She was elected on a gen-

eral seat, and was appointed State Minister for Finance
and Economic Affairs, a position in which she served for
three years from 2008 to 2011. During her tenure, she
became the first woman to present the federal budget
in the National Assembly, as the post of Minister for Fi-
nance had always previously been held by men. In 2011,
upon the resignation of Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood
Qureshi, she was appointed Minister of State for Foreign
Affairs. She made an important official visit to India in
July 2011, and appeared to have set in motion a thawing
of relations, which had been cold since the Mumbai at-
tacks of November 2008. Hina Rabbani Khar, Minister Foreign Affairs

2
 Biographies of main political leaders of Pakistan
OTHER POLITICAL LEADERS attempt. Subsequently, a murder charge was registered
against him, but he left the country clandestinely, sur-
IMRAN KHAN facing first in Saudi Arabia in January 1992, and then
Chairman of the Movement for Justice (PTI) arriving in London later the same month. He requested
Imran Khan is a former cricketer turned politician, and political asylum from the Government of the UK and was
the Chairman of the political party Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) granted the same, eventually becoming a British citizen
(Urdu: Movement for Justice). With a degree in Politics in 2002.
and Economics from Oxford, Khan is known for a career in Hussain has been based in London since January 1992,
international cricket, eventually becoming the captain of and has never returned to Pakistan. Nevertheless, he
the national team, and leading Pakistan to its only Cricket retains strong control of his party, and directs all its op-
World Cup win in 1992. After retirement from his sport- erations from his base in the UK.
ing career, he turned to politics, and established PTI in
1997. Although initially supporting General Musharrafs
military coup in 1999, he became a strong critic of the
administration, and was put under house arrest in 2007
after Musharraf declared a state of emergency in Paki-
stan. In the elections of 2002, PTI had one seat in the
National Assembly. The party did not contest the 2008
polls on the grounds that polls held under the overview of
General Musharrafs government would not be fair. Post
2008, the partys popularity has gained momentum, with
Khan leading the criticism of the current governments

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performance.
Khan is also an active philanthropist, having established
the first ever Cancer Hospital in Pakistan in 1994. He is
also the Chancellor of the University of Bradford, and has
established a college off in his hometown of Mianwali.

ALTAF HUSSAIN
Leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM)
Altaf Hussain was born in a lower-middle-income house-
hold in Karachi in 1953. His parents had migrated from
the Indian city of Agra to Karachi upon partition of the
sub-continent, and were thus part of the Mohajir or mi- Imran Khan, Movement for Justice
grant community. Hussain became prominent in student
politics from a relatively young age. He formed the All
Pakistan Mohajir Students Organization (APMSO) in Kara-
chi University in 1978. Hussain then formed the Mohajir
Qaumi Movement (MQM) in 1984, which claimed to be
the only political party speaking for the rights of the Mo-
hajir community, centered mainly in Sindhs major cities
of Karachi and Hyderabad. The MQM fought the gen-
eral elections of 1988 and emerged as the third largest
party in the National Assembly. Since then, the party has
consistently swept both national and provincial assembly
polls in Karachi, and also showed a substantial presence
in Hyderabad.
The MQM became the victim of factional infighting in the
mid 1990s, after Altaf Hussain announced that the party
would no longer represent the Mohajirs alone, but would
work on a national platform, and would henceforth be
www.paklinks.com

known as the Muttahida (or United) Qaumi Movement.

The two main factions of the party (known as the Mut-
tahida group and the Haqiqi (or Real) group respectively)
fought a vicious turf war in Karachi, and several lead-
ers and workers of both factions were killed and injured.
In December 1991, Hussain escaped an assassination Altaf Hussain, Muttahida Qaumi Movement

3
Pakistan: Country Profile

www.facebook.com/SyedMunawarHasan
www.facebook.com/ANPMarkaz

Asfandyar Wali Khan, Awami National Party Syed Munawar Hasan, Jemaah Islamiya

ASFANDYAR WALI KHAN

President, Awami National Party (ANP)
Asfandyar Wali Khan belongs to a prominent political fam-
ily of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. His grandfather, Khan Abdul
Ghaffar Khan, was a member of the Congress Party in
undivided India, and founded the non-violent Pashtun po-
litical movement, Khudai Khidmatgar ("Servants of God")
in emulation of Mahatma Gandhi.

The International Institute for Strategic Studies

Asfandyar Wali stayed away from politics for much of his
youth, as his father, Khan Abdul Wali Khan, remained a
leader of the ANP and a prominent opposition leader. He
was first elected to the National Assembly in 1993, and
became President of his party in 1999. He was defeated
in the elections of 2002, but returned to Parliament as
a Senator in 2003. He gave up his seat in the Senate
when he was once again elected to the National Assembly
in 2008. He has been at the vanguard of the political
struggle of the Pakhtuns against the Taliban in Khyber
CIDOB International Yearbook 2012

Pakhtunkhwa, and his party has lost many people to ter-

rorist attacks.

Maulana Fazlur Rahman, Jamiat e Ulema e Islam

SYED MUNAWAR HASAN
Ameer (Leader) of the Jamaat e Islami (JI)
Syed Munawar Hasan was born in Delhi in 1944, and
later settled in Karachi when his family moved to Pakistan
after partition. He became active in student politics in
Karachi University in the early 1960s, but was initially a
member of the left-wing National Students Federation. He
joined the Islami Jamiat e Tulaba or the student wing of
the Jamaat e Islami in 1964, and later joined the Jamaat
in 1967. He worked as a journalist and a researcher in
Karachi, and steadily rose through the ranks of the party.
He was elected as Ameer of the Jamaat in March 2009,
and is serving a five-year term.
MAULANA FAZLUR RAHMAN
Leader of the Jamiat e Ulema e Islam (JUI)
Maulana Fazlur Rahman succeeded his father, Mufti Mah-
mud as leader of the JUI. Mufti Mahmud had earlier been
a Chief Minister of the then Frontier province in the early
1970s, and was prominent for his opposition to the first
PPP government. Maulana Fazlur Rahman has been elected
to parliament in two of the last four elections, and was the
Leader of the Opposition from 2004 to 2007. His party was
known for its strong support to the Taliban government in
Afghanistan in the 1990s.

4
 Biographies of main political leaders of Pakistan
POLITICAL LEADERS SINCE INDEPENDENCE IN
1947

MUHAMMAD IQBAL
Leader of the Muslim League and ideological founder
of Pakistan (1926-1938)
Sir Muhammad Iqbal, commonly referred to as Allama
Iqbal (Urdu: Scholar), was born in 1877 and became
one of the most famous Urdu/Persian poets and philoso-
phers of the sub-continent in addition to being a promi-
nent leader of the Muslim League. Iqbal is credited with
first floating the idea of the formation of a Muslim major-
ity state (albeit within the dominion of India) in North-
west India. This suggestion was made in his presidential
address in the 1930 session of the Muslim League. Iqbal
www.wikipedia.org

passed away in 1938, nine years before the creation of

Pakistan, although he is widely commemorated as the
ideological founder of the country.

MUHAMMAD ALI JINNAH

Muhammad Iqbal Governor -General of Pakistan (1947-1948)
Muhammad Ali Jinnah, also known as Quaid-e-Azam
(Urdu: "Great Leader"), born in 1876, was the most
prominent of the leaders of the All India Muslim League,
and is known as the founder of Pakistan. Originally from
the state of Gujrat, Jinnah launched his career in India
as a lawyer, having been called to the Bar at Lincolns
www.facebook.com/pages/Baba-e-QAUM

Inn. He soon joined politics, and from 1913 until Paki-

stans independence in 1947, he was a leading member
of the League. He was elected as permanent president
of the party in 1934. Upon the creation of Pakistan in
August 1947, he became the first Governor-General
of the country and remained in this position until his
death on September 11, 1948. Jinnah initially rose to
prominence in the Indian National Congress, and later
helped shape the 1916 Lucknow Pact 1 between the
Muslim League and the Indian National Congress. He
also proposed a fourteen-point constitutional reform
Muhammad Ali Jinnah plan to safeguard the political rights of Muslims in a
self-governing India.
Jinnah was a strong advocate of Hindu-Muslim unity until
1928, when the publication of the Nehru Report con-
vinced him that the Congress party would be reluctant to
agree to special concessions ensuring Muslim represen-
tation in any proposed central government for India. Jin-
nah later advocated the two-nation theory embracing the
goal of creating a separate Muslim state. The League won
most reserved Muslim seats in the elections of 1946.
As the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League
failed to reach a power sharing formula for united India,
it prompted both the parties and the British to agree to
Encyclopdia Britannica

the division of India into two autonomous states, Pakistan

and India. As the first Governor-General of Pakistan, Jin-
nah led efforts to lay the foundations of the new state of
Pakistan, frame national policies and rehabilitate millions
of Muslim refugees who had migrated from India. Jinnah
died aged 71 in September 1948, just over a year after
Liaquat Ali Khan Pakistan gained independence.

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Pakistan: Country Profile

LIAQUAT ALI KHAN

Prime minister of Pakistan (1947-1951)
Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan was also a leader of the Muslim
League and became the first Prime Minister of Pakistan after
independence in 1947. Prior to independence, he was also
the Finance Minister of India in 1946. A staunch ally of Jin-
nah, Liaquat supported him in his campaign for the creation
of a separate state for Indian Muslims. His government was
characterized by its tilt towards the US as opposed to Indias
non-aligned status; and also by an attempted coup involving
leftist intellectuals and army personnel. As the government
struggled to control internal dissent within the League, as well
as a vocal and strengthening opposition, it was forced to yield

www.na.gov.pk
to the demands of some vested interests. An example of this
was the passage of the Objectives Resolution in 1949, soon
after Jinnahs death, which highlighted the role of religion in
the business of the state. Liaquat Ali Khan was assassinated
in 1951, and his murderer was also killed on the spot by police Muhammad Ayub Khan
officers. His murder remains unsolved.

MUHAMMAD AYUB KHAN

President of Pakistan (1958-1969)
Muhammad Ayub Khan was the Chief of Army Staff, and lat-
er, a self-appointed Field Marshal. He imposed martial law
in 1958, the first in Pakistans history, after dismissing the
government of Iskander Mirza, the last Governor General and
first President of Pakistan. General Ayubs government was

http://ameensanwal9.blogspot.com
characterized by the introduction of a system of indirect elec-
tions (which was known as the Basic Democracy) system, in
which local government bodies elected members to provincial
and the central legislature. Pakistans first regular war with
India (i.e. a war in which the armies were involved as opposed
to irregular forces) also took place during General Ayubs rule,
in 1965, and ended with a ceasefire brokered by the USSR.
General Ayubs later rule was characterised by widespread civil
unrest, triggered not least by a weakening economy in the
latter part of the 1960s; and by increasing political turmoil in
East Pakistan. General Ayub relinquished power in 1969, but Muhammad Yahya Khan
instead of holding elections, he handed over power to the then
Chief of Army Staff, General Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan.
CIDOB International Yearbook 2012

MUHAMMAD YAHYA KHAN

President of Pakistan (1969-1971)
General Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan Qizilbash, was ap-
pointed Chief of Army Staff in 1966, and succeeded General
Ayub Khan to become the third President of Pakistan in March
1969. General Yahya Khan remained President until Decem-
ber 1971. He was forced to resign following Pakistans defeat
in the war with India that month, which had been followed by
the secession of East Pakistan. Prior to this, Khan had been
www.currentaffairs.com.pk

commissioned in British Indian Army and served during the

Second World War. When in power, Khan took strong meas-
ures to weaken his political rivals, and became known for initi-
ating military action during the uprising in East Pakistan which
lasted from March to December 1971. As his successor,
Bhutto ordered the arrest of Khan, dishonouring him and plac-
ing him under house arrest.
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto

6

ZULFIQAR ALI BHUTTO
President of Pakistan (1971-1973)
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was the fourth President of Pakistan
from 1971 to 1973, after which he became the ninth
Prime Minister of Pakistan, and the first elected Prime
Minister, from 1973 to 1977. Bhutto was the founder
of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the largest political
party in Pakistan, and served as its chairman until his
execution in 1979. The PPP had campaigned on a so-
cialist economic agenda, and the government embarked
on a program of economic transformation that included
widespread nationalization of large-scale manufacturing
industries, educational institutions, banks and later, even
some small and medium enterprises like cotton ginning
plants. These measures were highly unpopular with the
business community, and may have engendered large-
scale corruption in the public sector. The regime was
also characterised by the use of strong-arm tactics
against the opposition, in particular the dismissal of two
provincial governments in the provinces of NWFP and
Balochistan respectively. In the case of Balochistan, this
dismissal was followed by the start of a long-running in-
surgency, which lasted to the end of the Bhutto regime.
Nevertheless, Bhuttos period in power was also marked
by the passage of the 1973 Constitution, and important
labour and social welfare legislation.
In 1977, the PPP won the parliamentary elections, but
widespread vote rigging was alleged by opposition par-
ties. Negotiations between the government and the op-
position were ongoing when the army staged a coup led by
the Chief of Army Staff, General Zia-ul-Haq, who removed
the Prime Minister and later also instituted criminal pro-
ceedings against him. In 1979, Bhutto was sentenced to
death by the Supreme Court for authorizing the murder
of a political opponent, and was executed.
www.pakistanarmy.gov.pk/
General Zia-Ul-Haq
Biographies of main political leaders of Pakistan
GENERAL ZIA-UL-HAQ
President of Pakistan (1978-1988)
General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, was the fourth Chief Mar-
tial Law Administrator (CMLA) and the sixth President of
Pakistan. He took power in a coup in July 1977, and
remained President till his death in August 1988. Gen-
eral Haq had been appointed Chief of Army Staff by Prime
Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1976, superseding several
others. His rule was characterised by widespread po-
litical repression, particularly of leftist parties, and by
the imposition of Islamic law, Islamic banking practices,
and an increasing trend of conservatism in society, which
was particularly apparent in the (state-controlled) media.
General Zia-ul-Haq was derided by the international com-
munity after the execution of Bhutto, but his support for
the Afghan Mujahideen after the Soviet invasion of 1979
effectively cast him in a positive light in the West. In
spite of an outpouring of aid to Pakistan during his rule,
and the revival of the economy, his repressive policies
made him increasingly unpopular, and he was forced to
hold elections (albeit party-less ones) in 1985. After the
polls, he continued as President, but appointed a civilian
Prime Minister, Mohammad Khan Junejo. Differences
with the civilian government on the issue of facilitating
a Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan caused him to dis-
miss Junejos government in 1988, after which he was
forced to call another general election. He died, along
with key army personnel and the then US ambassador
to Pakistan, in a mysterious aeroplane crash in August
1988. His demise paved the way for party-based polls in
Pakistan for the first time since 1977
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Benazir Bhutto
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Pakistan: Country Profile

BENAZIR BHUTTO
Prime Minister of Pakistan (1988-1990 and 1993-
1996)
Benazir Bhutto became the co-Chairman of the PPP fol-
lowing her father, Zulfiqar Ali Bhuttos execution in April
1979. Following long periods of incarceration and exile,
she was elected Prime Minister in the elections of 1988.
She served two non-consecutive terms; from 1988 until
1990, and from 1993 until 1996. On both occasions,
her government was dismissed by the then President(s)
on charges of corruption. She remained in exile after the
dismissal of her second government, and her husband,
Asif Ali Zardari, was jailed on corruption charges.
In 2007, President Musharraf granted Bhutto amnesty,
and all corruption charges were dropped, resulting in her
return to Pakistan after almost a decade. She was cam-
paigning for the 2008 elections when she was assassinat-

www.facebook.com/Lion.Of.PAKISTAN/
ed in a suicide bombing on the 27th of December 2007,
afte leaving a political rally in the city of Rawalpindi.

Complete version of the Biography of Benazir Bhutto

at CIDOBs website: http://www.cidob.org/es/
documentacion/biografias_lideres_politicos/(filtro)/
pais/(pais)/1133

Mian Mohammed Nawaz Sharif

MIAN MOHAMMED NAWAZ SHARIF
Prime Minister of Pakistan (1990-1993 and 1997-
1999)
Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif served as the twelfth
Prime Minister of Pakistan in two non-consecutive terms
from 1990 to 1993 and then from 1997 to 1999. He is
the President of the Pakistan Muslim League-N, a Centre-
right party.
Sharif first came to prominence during the rule of General
Zia-ul-Haq, and served as the Chief Minister of Punjab
for five years in the 1980s. From 1993 until 1996, he
served as the Leader of the Opposition. During Sharifs
CIDOB International Yearbook 2012
PERVEZ MUSHARRAF
President of Pakistan (2001-2008)
General Pervez Musharraf, served as Pakistans thir-
teenth Chief of Army Staff and tenth President. Mushar-
raf led a military government from 1999 to 2007, initially
ruling as Chief Executive and then as President. When
threatened with impeachment, he resigned in 2008.
In 1998, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appointed Mushar-
raf as the Chief of Army Staff. Musharrafs past experi-
ences included playing a vital role in the peace process

second term, he notably ordered Pakistan's first nuclear
tests in response to India's nuclear tests in May 1998.
Sharifs second term was also characterised by the Kargil
war when Pakistani forces occupied strategic border
posts in Indian Administered Kashmir. This conflict came
to an end only when Sharif appealed to the US President
to intervene with India and help negotiate a withdrawal by
Pakistani personnel. In the midst of the resulting tension
with the army, he appointed a new Chief of Army Staff
while the existing Chief, General Pervez Musharraf, was
on a foreign tour. The army staged a coup in response
to this, and Sharif was initially served criminal charges,
and then exiled to Saudi Arabia. He returned to Pakistan
in late 2007, and although he was not allowed to contest
the 2008 elections, he remains the leader of the PML
(N), the largest opposition party.
during the Afghan civil war and spearheading the interna-
tionally condemned Kargil operation, which derailed rela-
tions with India. Musharraf obtained power by way of a
coup dtat in October 1999, in response to an attempt
by Nawaz Sharif to remove him from the post of Chief of
Army Staff. After the September 2001 terrorist attacks
in the US, Pakistan, amid controversy, became a frontline
state in the war against terror and a key ally of the US.
Three years into power, Musharraf had himself elected
President following a referendum, and then organized
elections in October 2002, in which his favoured party,
the Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid group) came to power
as head of a ruling coalition.
Pakistans economy did exceptionally well for some years
under Musharrafs rule (notably from 2003 to 2006).
However fuel and food price inflation began to erode

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 Biographies of main political leaders of Pakistan
Notes

1. An agreement between the Muslim League and Indian

National Congress to place pressure on the British govern-
ment to cede more home rule powers to India.

2. The Lal Masjid siege was a confrontation in July 2007

between the Islamic fundamentalist militants, based out of
the Red Mosque of the capital Islamabad, and the Pervez
Musharraf administration.

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Pervez Musharraf

these gains by late 2007. In addition, Musharrafs at-

tempted suspension of the Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court initiated civil unrest against him, and his handling
of the the Lal Masjid 2 siege caused a rise in terrorist at-
tacks. He imposed emergency rule in November 2007,
but later relented, resigned as Chief of Army Staff, and
promised to oversee free and fair elections. He remained
President for six months following the elections of Febru-
ary 2008, but resigned in August 2008 when threatened
with impeachment. In February 2011, a Pakistani court
issued an arrest warrant for him because of his alleged
involvement in the assassination of former Prime Minister
Benazir Bhutto. He is currently in exile.

Complete version of the Biography of Pervez Musharraf

at CIDOBs website: http://www.cidob.org/es/
documentacion/biografias_lideres_politicos/(filtro)/
pais/(pais)/1133