BB Murder: Arrest Warrant Issued for Musharraf

RAWALPINDI: The Anti Terrorism Court issued on Saturday non-bailable- arrest-warrant for the former president Musharraf for his alleged involvement in assassination of ex-premier Benazir Bhutto.
Bhutto was assassinated on Dec 27, 2007, as she was leaving Liaquat Bagh in a motorcade after addressing an election rally in Rawalpindi, the twin city of Islamabad capital.
The court conducting the trial of suspects charged with involvement in the murder case, asked the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to present the former military ruler before court on February 19, otherwise, the court would consider him as ‘offender.’
The hearing was later adjourned till 19th of February.
The prosecutors on Monday asked the trial court to declare Musharraf as an “absconder” as he had refused to cooperate in the probe and also named him as an “accused.”
The prosecutors presented a charge sheet filed by the FIA saying Musharraf, who was president at the time of the assassination, had refused a request to cooperate in the investigation into Bhutto’s death.
A spokesman for Musharraf described charges against the former president as “politically motivated,” saying Musharraf will face the court if he formally receives the charge sheet.
Musharraf, who has been living in self-exile in Britain since April 2009, has said that he intends to return to Pakistan before the next general election in 2013. He has also formed a new party, the All Pakistan Muslim League, with an eye to the next polls.
A UN commission which probed Bhutto’s assassination had held Musharraf responsible for failing to provide adequate security to the former premier after her return to Pakistan from self-exile in October 2007.