Musharaff's body will be flown back on Monday from the United Arab Emirates to Pakistan on a special flight after his family submits an application to do so, local TV channel Geo News reports.

Pakistan’s former President General Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999, has died at a hospital in Dubai at the age of 79 after a prolonged illness, the country’s military said Sunday.

Musharraf, a four-star general who was president between 2001 and 2008, was suffering from amyloidosis – a rare disease that causes organ damage. He had long been bedridden and wheelchair-bound.

In a statement, senior military officials expressed their “heartfelt condolences” on the demise of the former military ruler, adding: “May Allah bless the departed soul and give strength to the bereaved family.”

Pakistani President Arif Alvi prayed “for eternal rest of the departed soul and courage to the bereaved family to bear this loss,” while Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed his “condolences and sympathy to the family,” tweeting: “May the departed soul rest in peace.”

Musharraf, who had been living in self-imposed exile in Dubai since 2016 after being charged with treason in 2014, seized power from former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after relations between the two leaders deteriorated.

His involvement while serving as the leader of Pakistan’s army in the Kargil conflict in May 1999, when Pakistani generals secretly ordered an operation to occupy heights in Kargil on the Indian side, caused many in India to view him as an adversary.

Despite this, Musharaff ruled Pakistan through tensions with India, supported the United States' “war on terror” after 9/11 attack despite domestic opposition, and tried to become an indispensable figure in combating Islamic extremism. He stepped down in 2008 while facing possible impeachment.

His time in power was marred with controversy and he was accused of widespread human rights abuses and oppression. In November 2007, he declared a state of emergency, suspended Pakistan’s constitution, replaced the chief judge, and blacked out independent TV outlets, drawing sharp criticism from the US and democracy advocates and causing Pakistanis to openly call for his removal.

The political career of the former leader, who had survived numerous assassination attempts, ultimately ended in disgrace and arrest, when in 2019 he was sentenced to death in absentia for high treason. The ruling was later overturned, but he never returned to Pakistan.

Musharraf is survived by his wife Sehba and two children.