ISLAMABAD: Former military ruler General (retd) Pervez Musharraf requested the government on Friday to allow him to visit Saudi Arabia to offer condolences to the Saudi royal family over King Shah Abdullah’s death.

In his plea, the former military ruler said he had maintained good relations with Abdullah, and the king’s demise had "saddened" him.

Saudi King Abdullah had passed away early on Friday (today).

The All Pakistan Muslim League’s (APML) spokesperson told Dawn that Musharraf has filed an application requesting the Interior Ministry to allow him to travel. The ministry has not responded to Musharraf’s request as yet.

Read: Saudi King Shah Abdullah dies; Salman becomes new king

Musharraf has been staying with his daughter in Karachi where he traveled for tests at a navy-run hospital in April last year. He has been banned from leaving the country as the government has put his name in the exit control list.

He had previously been kept under house arrest at his Chak Shehzad residence.

After returning from a self-imposed exiled in March 2013, Musharraf faced several serious charges. The most prominent among them was the imposition of emergency in the country in 2007 and murder of Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Bugti.

Recently an anti-terrorism court in Quetta has indicted him in the murder of the Baloch nationalist leader, for which the hearing would resume on daily basis from February 4.

He is on bail in four other major cases linked to his time in power, which also includes assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in a gun and suicide attack.

Read: ATC indicts Musharraf in Akbar Bugti murder case