Ex-Pakistan leader Pervez Musharraf, who aided U.S. war in Afghanistan, has died

FILE - Pervez Musharraf addresses the U.N. General Assembly on Nov. 10, 2001, at the United Nations headquarters in New York. An official said Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan military ruler who backed US war in Afghanistan after 9/11, has died. (Beth Keiser/AP)

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Pervez Musharraf, who was Pakistan's military ruler for nearly a decade, has died in Dubai after a long illness. The 79-year-old four-star general was a key ally in the U.S.-led war on terror, and a controversial figure at home.

Pakistan's military immediately issued a statement of condolences, as did many politicians, who remained steadfastly loyal to Musharraf despite his rise to power in a military coup in October 1999, when he overthrew an elected prime minister, Nawaz Sharif.