WASHINGTON, May 19 Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf has said that he will return to Pakistan before the next elections.

At a news conference in Washington, the former military ruler also launched a group called Friends of Pakistan First, which included delegates from 26 US states.

The group will provide “financial, technical and intellectual” support to Mr Musharraf's campaign for re-launching himself into Pakistani politics without the military's backing.

“I have decided to return to Pakistan and participate in politics,” he told the briefing. “I have not fixed a date yet but there is a desire to return before the next elections, whether they are end-term or mid-term.”

The former military ruler disagreed with suggestion that his bid to re-launch himself would fail because he did not have enough political support in the country and also lacked an effective political institution to back his move.

“I do not overestimate myself but underestimation is also wrong,” he said. “I do not know why Imran Khan failed and I do not believe in such comparisons. But I think I can succeed.”

The former military strongman said that he already enjoyed some popular support, which he hoped would expand when he returned home.

“There are MPAs, MNAs and senators who already support us. And they will join our group when it is formally launched in Pakistan,” he said.

Mr Musharraf, whose attempt to dislodge the Chief Justice of Pakistan caused a popular revolt which forced him to step down, said he believed in “the independence and supremacy of the judiciary” and was willing to appear before a court if and when required.

“I only hope and expect justice will be done,” he said when asked to comment on a news report that Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and PML-N chief Mian Nawaz Sharif had agreed to bring him before the Supreme Court to face various charges.

As Mr Musharraf has firmed up plans for his return to the country, his supporters indicated that the new party he was planning to launch may be called the All Pakistan Muslim League.

Mr Musharraf also has launched a membership drive for the party and said that more than 210,000 people had already joined a support group his followers had created on the Facebook.

Asked to comment on a UN report on the murder of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, the former chief of the army staff said “whipping up sentiments over this issue would not help anyone”.

He rejected “all conspiracy theories that implicate me and the former director general of the Military Intelligence” in the murder.

The government, he said, had taken enough precautionary measures to allow Ms Bhutto to address the rally where she was killed. “Now, if she came out of her vehicle to address her supporters, how can you blame the government?”

When a journalist reminded Mr Musharraf that there were moves in Pakistan to use the Interpol to bring him home and face charges, he said “Let them do it. We will cross the bridge when we reach the bridge.”

Gen (retd) Musharraf said that he did not regret ordering a military raid at the Red Mosque in Islamabad. “We were not left with any other option,” he said, adding that only 94 people were killed in that operation, including one woman who refused to come out.

“All other women and children had been evacuated.”

The former military dictator said that he did not regret ordering a military operation in Balochistan either that led to Akbar Bugti's death. “Those waging a war against the state” had forced the government to do so, he said.

He also did not agree with a suggestion that he should have withdrawn the NRO before stepping down. “No comments,” said the former general when asked if he believed the NRO was a mistake.