Ex-President Pervez Musharraf may never be able to live in the house he has constructed in the outskirts of Islamabad owing to security reasons, reports "The Times". The British daily said number 1-A Park Road in Chak Shahzad looks, at first glance, like many other houses built by Pakistan's tycoons on the outskirts of Islamabad.
it has a swimming pool, a five-acre garden and a four-bedroom villa in a Moroccan and Mediterranean style. When he resigned as President on Monday Musharraf and his wife, Sehba, had planned to move out of Army House, their home since 1998, and into the villa, which is worth an estimated pounds 1 million (US $2 million).
The newspaper quoted his architect Hammad Hussein as saying that he thinks that Musharraf is planning to live there as he has taken such a strong interest in the house whose construction began in 2004. But the daily reports that politicians and diplomats believe, however, that the threat of prosecution and assassination made it extremely complicated, if not impossible, for him to stay in Pakistan let alone in his new house.
One senior Pakistani diplomat told the paper that Musharraf planned to go to Britain first, possibly within a few days, but not to settle there. He might also visit Saudi Arabia for the Umra pilgrimage, and could spend weeks travelling overseas before deciding where to settle, the diplomat added.
He said that Musharraf, had been inspired after a trip to Morocco. The former President also wanted every room to have views on to the garden, which has a fish pond and an apple and citrus orchard.
When the ex-President purchased the empty plot in 2003 it was worth about 30 million rupees (Pounds 230,000), based on land prices in the area at the time. Today the house and garden are worth 120-140 million rupees, making it a good investment even if he has to sell it or rent it out, the paper concluded.
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