Pervez Musharraf

The current President of Pakistan, as well as a General in the Pakistani military.  He was born in Delhi in 1943, and his family moved to Pakistan during the partition of the Indian sub-continent.  He became involved in the military in 1964, and rose to the position of general in 1998 when General Jehangir Karamat stepped down, a move that made it appear as if Pakistan was moving toward primarily civilian administration.  Musharraf is credited as being one of the main strategists behind the Kashmir crisis of 1998.  As tensions rose between India and Pakistan in the late 1990s, played a larger and larger role, and then he named himself President of Pakistan in 2001.

For more information, please see:

General Pervez Musharraf- The President - Official Biography

BBC News - Profile: General Pervez Musharraf - 24 September 2001