Former army chief Abdul Waheed Kakar dies in Rawalpindi at 89
Field Marshal Asim Munir, President Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condoled the death of the general who led the army from 1993 to 1996.
Former chief of army staff General (retd) Abdul Waheed Kakar, who headed the Pakistan Army from January 1993 to January 1996, died in Rawalpindi on Monday. Business Recorder reported that he was 89.
The death was announced by the Inter-Services Public Relations, the military's media affairs wing, in a statement that also carried condolences from the serving army chief. None of the reports available on Monday stated a cause of death.
According to the ISPR statement, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff, and all ranks of the Pakistan Army expressed deep sorrow over the death and paid tribute to the late general's military career, leadership and services to the army. The statement said the army shared the grief of the bereaved family and offered its condolences, a tribute Dawn and the Express Tribune also reported.
President Asif Ali Zardari issued a separate condolence statement, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported. He expressed deep grief, conveyed sympathies and condolences to the family, and prayed for peace for the departed soul and patience for the grieving family.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also condoled the death, Business Recorder reported, praying for the departed soul along with the president and the army chief.
The reports differed in scope. APP's account of the president's statement did not say where or when General Kakar died, while Dawn, the Express Tribune and Business Recorder, citing ISPR, placed the death in Rawalpindi on Monday. Business Recorder was alone among the outlets in carrying his age and the exact dates of his tenure as army chief.
No funeral arrangements and no details of survivors were announced in the statements available on Monday. The condolence messages issued by the presidency, the prime minister's office and the military dealt with the death in general terms, and the army's announcement came from Rawalpindi while APP filed the president's statement from Islamabad.
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