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1st LD Writethru: Pakistan's top court allows Musharraf to go abroad for treatment

Xinhua, March 16, 2016 Adjust font size:

Pakistan's top court on Wednesday allowed former President Pervez Musharraf to travel abroad for medical treatment, lawyers said.

The government had banned Musharraf, who quit as president in 2008, from leaving the country as he faces several cases including high treason and the murder of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

A five-member bench of the Supreme Court rejected a government's plea after lawyers of the former president argued that their client suffers from "back pain" and his treatment is not available in Pakistan.

"The Supreme Court has dispensed justice and there are no restrictions now on the former President's travel abroad," Musharraf's senior defence lawyer Faroogh Nasim told reporters in Islamabad after the court delivered the verdict.

Nasim said there is no need to get the government permission after the court's judgement.

The government had put Musharraf's name on the Exit Control List, a list of the people who cannot go out of the country without the government permission.

Musharraf was recently admitted in a hospital in Karachi where doctors suggested him to get treatment abroad.

The Interior Ministry said the government would respect the court's verdict, but it is still waiting for a detailed judgment.

Last month, a local court in Islamabad had issued a non-bailable warrant for the arrest of Musharraf in a 2007 murder case of a religious cleric.

Abdul Rashid Ghazi was among 90 students who were killed in a military raid on the Islamabad's Red Mosque. At least 11 security men were also killed in clashes.

The former president was also charged in the murder case of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto who was killed in a suicide attack and gunshots in Rawalpindi during Musharraf's rule.

Musharraf now heads a political party - "All Pakistan Muslim League" or APML.

A senior leader of the APML, Ahmad Raza Kasuri, said Musharraf will go abroad in one or two days.

A special court hearing treason case had earlier summoned Musharraf to personally appear on March 31, but it is unclear if he will return for appearance. Enditem