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By becoming the President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf has only followed the tradition of three previous army generals.
Fifty-eight-year-old Musharraf, author of Kargil, has decisively emulated Field Martial Ayub Khan, Gen Yahya Khan and Gen Zia ul Haq.
Musharraf, whose pistol toting image flashed across television screens during the Kargil crisis in 1999, took the reins of power on October 12, 1999 overthrowing democratically elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a military coup.
The Pakistani general was little known to the outside world till he was appointed army chief, ironically by Sharif.
He superseded two other generals to become army chief in 1998, replacing the powerful General Jehangir Karamat.
Musharraf was born in Delhi on August 14, 1943 in a diplomat's family. A hardboiled soldier, Musharraf began his military service in 1964 as a commando of the Northern Light Infantry and rose despite not belonging to the Punjabi officer class.
He is the second Mohajir after General Aslam Beg to have occupied the powerful position of Army Chief.
During the Kargil crisis he was the first senior figure to acknowledge the inflitration by the Pakistani troops.
He saw action in 1965 war with India as an young officer in the Khem Karan, Lahore and Sialkot sectors. He also participated in the 1971 war as a company commander in a commando battalion.
Musharraf, the second of three brothers, migrated to Karachi along with his family at the age of four during the partition of the Indian sub-continent.
A graduate of Command and Staff College, Quetta and the National Defence College, Musharraf also distinguished himself at the Royal College of Defence Studies, U K.
He has served on various important staff and various instructional appointments during his military career and also donned the crucial post of the Director General Military Operations at the General Headquarters.
Musharraf has two children, Ayla and Bilal, both happily married. A natural sportsman, Musharraf has always loved the outdoors and plays Squash, Golf or Badminton during leisure time.
PTI
ALSO SEE: Check rhetoric, Musharraf tells Vajpayee Musharraf sworn in president 5 links on Pakistan's new President The Complete Coverage: India-Pakistan Summit 2001
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