Pervez Musharraf's London pad surrounded by kebab joints
Former Pakistani dictator Pervez Musharraf is living in a flat near Edgware Road, it has been revealed.
The former military leader has swapped the presidential palace in Islamabad for a relatively modest flat surrounded by the shisha bars and kebab joints of London's Arabic quarter.
The area is also home to Tony Blair, who owns a large house in nearby Connaught Square.
Musharraf has chosen a simple apartment in a red-brick complex in which to retire.
It is a contrast to the pomp of Musharraf's nine-year rule in Pakistan, during which he was guarded by liveried soldiers and surrounded by political acolytes.
But security remains tight at his £1 million London flat.
The retired general is guarded by a small team of retired Pakistani commandos, which he pays for himself, and has a protection detail from Scotland Yard.
He is said to dine regularly at the Dorchester hotel and hosts regular music evenings in his flat.
A recent YouTube video revealed him to be an accomplished Urdu singer.
He is said to regularly play golf and often plays bridge with his confidante, Brigadier Niaz Ahmed, a retired arms dealer.
In Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, the former prime minister Musharraf ousted in a coup in 1999, wants him tried for treason, a charge that carries the death penalty.
Yet few pundits believe Musharraf will face trial in the near future. The army, led by General Pervez Kayani, opposes a treason charge. So does the civilian president, Asif Zardari, who fears it could upset fragile civil-military relations.
Nevertheless it is claimed that the general, who resigned 13 months ago, is better served by being out of Pakistan.
It is claimed that Musharraf pays £450 to hire an official VIP lounge every time he flies from or to Heathrow airport, and travels in a bulletproof vehicle.
However, it is the nature and cost of his taxpayer-funded protection that is most controversial.
Lord Nazir Ahmed, a critic in the House of Lords, tabled a parliamentary question about the cost of these security arrangements in July.
The government replied that it was "established Home Office policy not to comment on protective security arrangements and their related costs".
Nazir said: "Our old age pensioners don't get security, so how can we pay for an old general who wants to enjoy himself in London?"
The Pakistan-born peer said he was collecting evidence for a possible war crimes prosecution through Bindmans solicitors, who pursued the retired Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet through the British courts in the late 1990s.
It is claimed that Musharraf is on a visitor's visa and it has been reported that he intends to take up permanent residence in the Middle East or in the US, where his son Bilal lives.
