US will consider any asylum bid by Musharraf

The United States said Tuesday it would study any application for asylum by ex- president Pervez Musharraf but pointed out that no such bid had been made so far.

“We haven’t been asked to provide him with any asylum or place of residence,” State Department spokesman Robert Wood said amid speculations that the former staunch US “war on terror” ally who quit Monday might stay abroad, including in the United States.

“If he chooses to take up residence somewhere, I mean if he were to request that, we would obviously look at it, but it’s not an issue that we’ve been approached with,” Wood explained. There has been much speculation on what will happen to Musharraf after his resignation in the face of looming impeachment charges and whether he will remain in Pakistan.

Among countries cited in unconfirmed reports about his alleged asylum plans were Saudi Arabia, the United States, Britain, the United Arab Emirates or Turkey. One report said that Pakistan’s army and the United States had brokered a deal with the ruling coalition in Islamabad for him to avoid criminal charges.

Officials from both the coalition and the security services said in Islamabad that Musharraf would travel to close ally Saudi Arabia in the coming days to perform Umrah. A senior coalition official said that Musharraf would then head for London or Turkey, but his aides insisted he would return after his religious duties in the Gulf kingdom.