Report: ISI head secretly meets Musharraf

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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Jan. 24 (UPI) -- Pakistan's spy agency chief secretly met with former president Pervez Musharraf in Dubai to advise him against returning home, sources told Dawn News channel.

Musharraf, a former army chief, has been living in London and Dubai since 2009, following his resignation from the presidency, which he assumed after a coup in 1999. He faces arrests in Pakistan on accusations of crimes allegedly committed during his rule.

The Dawn report sources it did not identify as saying Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, head of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, advised Musharraf during his recent meeting that the current situation in Pakistan would not be conducive for his return.

"General Pasha, who has remained very close to the former president, held a meeting with him (Musharraf) in Dubai and advised him not to return to the country as the situation is not conducive for his return," the report said.

The Pakistani Senate passed a resolution Monday demanding the arrest of the former military ruler upon his return, Dawn reported. The interior ministry has announced Musharraf would be arrested immediately upon his return.

The Dawn report said it was not clear whether the meeting between Pasha and Musharraf was held at the direction of the ruling Pakistan People's Party government or was a private meeting.

Pasha was appointed director general of Pakistan's military operations directorate in 2008 when Musharraf was president. Later, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, current army chief, promoted Pasha as head of the ISI, the report said.

Musharraf recently put off plans to return to Karachi. He has announced his intention to run in next year's presidential elections.