International desk: Former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf has died after prolonged illness, media reports said on Sunday.

He was 79.

The former four-star General breathed his last early on Sunday at a Dubai hospital, according to Pakistani officials. He had been undergoing treatment at the hospital.  

Musharraf, who seized power in a coup in 1999, was president of Pakistan between 2001 and 2008.

He had survived numerous assassination attempts, and found himself on the front line of the struggle between militant Islamists and the West, according to BBC.

Musharraf was indicted for suspending the Constitution on November 3, 2007, more than seven years after he took over power in March 2014.

A special court in Pakistan handed Musharraf death sentence in the high treason case against him on December 17, 2019. He however left the country for Dubai in 2016 and seek medical treatment and never returned.

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