Musharraf says his comeback plans 'very much intact'

ISLAMABAD: Dismissing reports that he has dropped plans to return to Pakistan after the military here refused to provide him extra security, former President Pervez Musharraf has said he had never made such a request to the army and insisted that his plans to come back were intact.

"My comeback plans are very much intact. I don't need any extra measures for my protection and the government, not the army, is responsible for that," Musharraf, who lives in self-exile in Britain, told The Express Tribune newspaper.

He rejected reports that Pakistani military leadership had refused to provide him extra security to counter threats to his life from al-Qaeda and Taliban and turned down his request to use its influence to prevent his arrest for his alleged involvement in the killing of former premier Bhutto and Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Bugti.

"I have never made any such request," Musharraf told the paper by phone from Dubai.

A spokesperson for the former army chief also contradicted the media reports, saying they were untrue.

"Musharraf...will return when he has to...We will decide what time suits him to be in Pakistan again," said Fawad Chaudhry, who is associated with Musharraf's All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) party.

Musharraf has repeatedly said he plans to come back to Pakistan to lead the APML in the next general election scheduled for 2013 though he has not set a date for his return.