Former president retired General Pervez Musharraf passed away in Dubai on Sunday after a prolonged battle with the rare disease amyloidosis. He was 79.

Shazia Siraj, spokesperson for Pakistan's consulate in Dubai and embassy in Abu Dhabi confirmed the news. “I can confirm that he passed away this morning,” she told Reuters.

Geo News reported that a special flight will be made to Dubai on Monday to bring Musharraf's body back to Pakistan for burial.

Meanwhile, a Khaleej Times report said that the Consulate General of Pakistan in Dubai has issued a no-objection certificate (NOC) as Musharraf's family intends to repatriate his body to Pakistan.

"We are in touch with the family and the consulate will facilitate in whatever way it can, the consulate has issued the no objection certificate,” the report quoted Consul-General Hassan Afzal Khan as saying.

Condolences

In a statement issued immediately after Musharraf's demise, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Sahir Shamshad and all the services chiefs expressed their heartfelt condolences.

"May Allah bless the departed soul and give strength to the bereaved family," the military's media wing said.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also extended condolences to Musharraf's family.

"I offer my condolences to the family of General (retd) Pervez Musharraf. May the departed soul rest in peace," he tweeted.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari changed his Twitter profile picture to a photograph of the late Nawab Akbar Bugti and his mother Benazir, in whose murder Musharraf was nominated in a terror case.

In a series of tweets, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani expressed deep sorrow over the former president's death and extended condolences to the grieving family.

"May God grant the deceased a high rank and give patience to the family," he added.

PTI leader and former information minister Fawad Chaudhry said Musharraf was a "great person" whose ideology was to always keep Pakistan the first.

Former Pakistan ambassador to the United Nations Maleeha Lodhi also offered a prayer for the former president. "Gen Pervez Musharraf has passed away. May Allah rest him in peace. Ameen"

Prolonged illness

The former military ruler was hospitalised for three weeks in June last year. "Going through a difficult stage where recovery is not possible and organs are malfunctioning. Pray for ease in his daily living," his family said at the time in a statement via Musharraf's official Twitter account.

The family had issued the statement after the news of his demise had started circulating on social media after some Pakistani and Indian publications carried it.

The retired general's illness came to light in 2018 when the All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) had announced that he was suffering from the rare disease amyloidosis.

Amyloidosis is the name for a group of rare, serious conditions caused by a build-up of an abnormal protein called amyloid in organs and tissues throughout the body. The build-up of amyloid proteins (deposits) can make it difficult for the organs and tissues to work properly.

The party's Overseas President Afzaal Siddiqui had said that Musharraf's condition had "weakened his nervous system". At the time he was being treated in London.

On March 30, 2014, Musharraf was indicted for suspending the Constitution on November 3, 2007.

On December 17, 2019, a special court handed Musharraf death sentence in the high treason case against him.

The former military ruler left the country in March 2016 for Dubai to seek medical treatment and didn't return to Pakistan since.

Additional input from Tahir Sherani