Former president Pervez Musharraf has left Jeddah for London following a three-day visit to Saudi Arabia.
Former president Pervez Musharraf has left Jeddah for London following a three-day visit to Saudi Arabia amidst speculation that the Saudi royal family is engaged in efforts to prevent his possible trial in Pakistan on charges of treason.
Details about Musharraf's meeting with King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, which began late on Tuesday night and continued till early hours yesterday, were not immediately available but sources close to the former military ruler said he was in "high spirits" after the talks.
Musharraf's body language was "positive" and he sounded "very optimistic," the sources were quoted as saying by the
Dawn newspaper.
There was also speculation that "another Saudi-backed political arrangement was on the cards in Pakistan," the daily reported.
Senior Saudi ministers initially attended the meeting between Musharraf and the King. They left the room after 45 minutes and a one-on-one discussion between the King and Musharraf continued for over two hours.
Back-to-back visits to Saudi Arabia by Pakistan's Interior minister Rehman Malik and Musharraf have sparked speculation that the Saudi royal family is working to prevent any trial of the former president on charges of treason after the Supreme Court declared the emergency imposed by him in 2007 as unconstitutional and illegal.
Opposition PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, Musharraf's most vocal critic, is also scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia next week.
Meanwhile, a TV news channel reported that Musharraf had said he had asked for nothing for himself during his meeting with the Saudi King. Musharraf said they only discussed major issues related to the development of Pakistan.
Addressing the Pakistani community in Jeddah, Musharraf said he would brief Pakistanis on the country's deteriorating economic situation after reaching London. He refused to talk about his return to Pakistan or the demands for his trial for treason.
The
Dawn reported it was an "open secret" in Saudi Arabia that Musharraf resigned from the presidency last year under an arrangement for which "the Saudis were one of the guarantors."
Under this arrangement, there will be "no trial of or court cases against the former president."
The US and Britain are believed to be among other guarantors, the report said. It also quoted sources as saying that it "would be naive to think that ... Nawaz Sharif was unaware of the arrangement."
The guarantors now want the arrangement to be "respected in letter and in spirit," the report said.
The Saudi royal family has often stepped in the past to help prevent political instability in Pakistan.
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