Musharraf delays return to Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Jan. 27 (UPI) — Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf canceled plans to return there after he was warned he faced immediate arrest, his party said Friday.

Musharraf announced this month he would fly to Karachi this weekend to campaign for upcoming parliamentary elections, the Daily Telegraph reported. Musharraf left Pakistan in 2008 and has been living in Dubai and London.

Mohammed Ali Saif, general secretary of the All Pakistan Muslim League, announced Musharraf’s change of plans at a news conference in Islamabad. Saif said advisers had been telling Musharraf political conditions are not yet right.

“He finally decided today that he would accept the recommendations,” Saif said.

Musharraf, a general, seized power in a coup in 1999. he governed Pakistan first as a military leader and then as a civilian president until 2008.

He faces charges in connection with the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani told CNN Musharraf would be arrested on arrival.

A source told the Telegraph Musharraf is now considering a March return.

<a href="http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2012/01/27/Musharraf-delays-return-to-Pakistan/UPI-16921327702625/?spt=hs&or=tntag:news.google.com,2005:cluster=17593994320625Top StoriesFri, 27 Jan 2012 22:21:38 GMT”>Musharraf delays return to Pakistan