Of the many questions raised by Pervez Musharraf’s resignation yesterday, one stands out as both the most mundane and the most difficult to answer - where will he live now?

One senior Pakistani official told The Times that initially it had been planned to fly the former President and his family to London today, but those plans had been changed.

Mr Musharraf has lived at Army House in Rawalpindi, a garrison town near Islamabad, since he became army chief in 1998. He remained there after seizing power in a coup in 1999 and after stepping down as head of the army last year.

But after nine years in one of the world’s most dangerous political jobs, he and his family must soon return to a civilian world teeming with politicians, separatists and Islamists who would like to see him jailed or dead.

His own choice would be to stay in a house that he is building on his five--acre farm on the outskirts of Islamabad. But he risks prosecution by his political enemies if he stays in Pakistan - a risk that will increase if the Government reinstates the judges he dismissed last year.

He would also be a certain target for the Islamic militants who have already made three attempts on his life. Only last week, Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda’s number two, denounced Mr Musharraf as “one of the biggest enemies of Islam, if not the biggest”.

As President, he was protected by a relatively well trained army using sophisticated jamming equipment and satellite technology. Now he is entitled to protection only by the police, whose shortcomings were exposed by Benazir Bhutto’s assassination last year.

If the Government does not grant him military protection, as well as immunity from prosecution, he will probably be forced overseas. A senior Pakistani official said an alternative to London might be Turkey. Sir Mark Lyall Grant, the former British High Commissioner to Pakistan, met Mr Musharraf in Islamabad last week. But diplomatic sources say that he is unlikely to move to Britain, not least because of the security threats from al-Qaeda and the Taleban.

Mr Musharraf spent some of his childhood in Turkey and speaks Turkish, but diplomats say Ankara is also reluctant to take on the security risk.

Another suggestion is the United States, where his son, Bilal, works. However, on Sunday Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, said an asylum offer was “not on the table”.

That leaves only Saudi Arabia, which took in Nawaz Sharif, the deposed Pakistani Prime Minister, in 1999, helped to broker his return last year and sent its intelligence chief to meet Mr Musharraf last week. It is hardly a perfect exile, given Mr Musharraf’s taste for whisky and socialising with the opposite sex, but it may be his only option.

Men of influence

Asif Ali Zardari, 54, widower of Benazir Bhutto, is the most powerful political figure in Pakistan. The co-chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), which leads the fractious coalition government, Mr Zardari has spent 11 years in jail on corruption charges since 1990. He is a potential candidate for president

Nawaz Sharif, 56, twice Prime Minister, is another leader influencing Pakistani politics. Head of the conservative Pakistan Muslim League (N), Mr Sharif was ousted from power by Mr Musharraf, then Chief of Army Staff, in a military coup in October 1999 and sent into exile in Saudi Arabia. He returned to Pakistan last November and led his party in the elections, when they achieved sweeping gains to become the second-largest group in the parliament. His political base is particularly strong in Punjab - Pakistan’s largest province

General Asfaq Kayani, 56, was appointed Chief of Army Staff last December, after Mr Musharraf stepped down. General Kayani, who earlier headed Inter-Services Intelligence, Pakistan’s main spy agency, is known for his liberal proWest views. His position as army chief has made him one of the key players in Pakistani politics

Yousaf Raza Gilani, 55, was elected Prime Minister after the PPP swept to victory in the national elections. He comes from a politically influential Punjabi family. A former Speaker of the National Assembly, he spent five years in prison under Mr Musharraf’s military government

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