The Pakistani Taliban today threatened to assassinate former military ruler Pervez Musharraf when he returns to the country to contest elections after nearly five years in self-imposed exile.

The 69-year-old escaped three assassination attempts when in office from 1999 to 2008, a target of Islamist extremists because of his alliance in the US-led "war on terror" and attempts to clamp down on militants.

"We have prepared a special squad of suicide bombers for Musharraf," Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location.
"They will attack Musharraf after he arrives (in) Pakistan."

Musharraf is due to fly into Karachi, his home town and Pakistan's largest city of 18 million which is suffering from record levels of violence linked to ethnic and political tensions, tomorrow.