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Pakistani President Denies Coup Rumors | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, (AP) -Pakistan’s president, speaking from New York, dismissed as “nonsense” widespread speculation that his military-led government had been overthrown during his absence.

A nationwide power outage and President Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s stop at a U.S. hospital over the weekend give rise to rumours of a coup.

But in an interview Sunday with Pakistani TV, Musharraf called the rumours “nonsense in nonsense in nonsense.” He spoke during a trip to the United States to address the U.N. General Assembly and meet with U.S. officials.

Musharraf, 63, underwent routine testing with his cardiologist on Saturday during an unannounced trip to Texas a day after meeting with President Bush in Washington.

The Pakistani president was “found to be in excellent health,” according to a statement from the regional medical center in the East Texas town of Paris.

After leaving the hospital, Musharraf attended a private luncheon in the small town about 105 miles northeast of Dallas, The Paris News reported in Saturday’s online edition.

On Sunday, millions of homes across Pakistan were left without power for several hours after a glitch in the national electricity transmission system, government officials said.

Musharraf, who is expected to return to Pakistan on Saturday, himself came to power in a bloodless 1999 coup. He became a key U.S. ally in the war on terror after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.