'Confident' Pervez Musharraf to return to Pakistan on Jan 25

ISLAMABAD: Former president Pervez Musharraf has said he plans to return to Pakistan from self-exile on January 25 or 27 as he is confident that he will be acquitted in all the cases filed against him in the country.

Musharraf, who has been living outside Pakistan since April 2009, said he would reach Pakistan on January 25 or 27.

The former military ruler said about 600 persons from across the world would accompany him on his return.

Musharraf told an event in Dubai on Thursday that he was hopeful he would be acquitted in the cases registered against him after two to three court hearings.

He said he was ready to face the courts. A slew of civil and criminal cases have been filed against Musharraf in courts across Pakistan over the past two years.

A court in Balochistan has issued an arrest warrant for him in connection with a case related to the killing of Baloch nationalist leader Akbar Bugti in a military operation in 2006.

Another anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi too has issued an arrest warrant for Musharraf for failing to cooperate with investigators probing the 2007 assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto.

This court also directed authorities to confiscate all of Musharraf's assets, including his farmhouse on the outskirts of Islamabad.