Pervez Musharraf, the onetime military ruler of a nuclear-armed Pakistan who promised critical support for Washington’s campaign against Al Qaeda after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, but faced growing resistance at home in a land seething with anti-Western passions, died Sunday. He was 79.
His death was confirmed by Lt. Gen. Sahir Shamshad Mirza, the head of the joint chiefs of staff of the Pakistani military. He died in a hospital in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where he was being treated for a long illness, state media reported.
From the moment he took power in a bloodless coup in late 1999 to his resignation and self-exile under threat of impeachment in 2008, Mr. Musharraf offered the world the image of a former army commando and ally of the United States who guaranteed a measure of regional stability in the upheaval after 9/11 and the subsequent United States attack on Afghanistan. He was the U.S.’s staunchest ally in the region.
