ISLAMABAD: The army chief General Raheel Sharif has advised Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to remove the name of former president Pervez Musharraf from the Exit Control List (ECL) so that he could travel abroad in order to meet his ailing mother, media reported on Wednesday.
The advice came during a meeting between the army chief and the prime minister in Islamabad on Tuesday as they discussed the issue of Musharraf’s possible exit. The Inter-Services Intelligence chief Lt General Zaheerul Islam also attended the ‘informal consultations’ to decide the fate of the former military ruler.
However, there was no official word on the high-level meeting.
On Monday, a three-member special court constituted to try the former military ruler for high treason indicted him in the case and further ruled that removal of Musharraf’s name from the ECL was not its prerogative as it had not ordered for the inclusion of his name in the list.
The ruling said that it was up to the government to allow or deny the request put forward by Musharraf to be allowed to travel abroad to meet his ailing mother.
According to media, a well-informed security official said that Musharraf’s name should be removed from the ECL after a clear verdict by the special court.
The security official said that following the court’s ruling, “There is no legal issue left now and it is purely a political decision.” The official said that General Raheel told the prime minister that Musharraf’s case now “should come to a close”.
“The sooner the better,” the official said, adding that Musharraf’s 95-year-old mother was ‘seriously ill’ and he wanted to be with her at the earliest.
Moreover, another official pointed out that since Musharraf had already been indicted, the time had come to “move on”. “That is the message the Army Chief has delivered to the government,” he added.
