Former President of Pakistan and Chief of Army staff, General Pervez Musharraf breathed his last today afternoon in Dubai.  He was admitted to American Hospital in Dubai, while under prolonged illness and passed away under treatment. He was 79. Pervez Musharraf had been under self-imposed exile in Dubai for nearly 8 years now. General Musharraf has been facing charges in Pakistan for the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007.

General Musharraf came to the global political arena after he led a successful bloodless military coup in 1999, subsequent to which he became the 10th President of Pakistan. He also served as the 10th Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee of Pakistan from 1998 to 2001 and the 7th top General from 1998 till 2007.

He was known as the architect of the Kargil War in 1999 in which India defeated Pakistan, leading to a catastrophic military failure for Gen Musharraf. Even two years after the war, Gen Musharraf was stronger than ever, when he got the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif arrested and jailed and sent to exile, when the latter prevented Gen Musharraf's entry to Pakistan when he was touring Sri Lanka.

As per reports, a medical condition called Amyloidosis led to malfunctioning of most of his organs, because of which he was hospitalised. Amyloidosis is a rare disease caused by the build up of a rare protein named Amyloid in organs and tissues througout the body and leads to inhibiting normal functioning of tissues and organs in the body.

General Pervez Musharraf was born Delhi in 1943. His parents joined the mass exodus in 1947 to Pakistan. General Musharraf's father served in the foreign ministry and his mother was a teacher. Gen Musharraf joined the Army at the age of 18 went on to lead an elite Commando unit of the Pakistan Army before rising to the the pinnacle of the Armed Force of Pakistan and eventually becoming the President.