Terror judge issues arrest warrant for ex-Pakistan President Musharraf over Benazir Bhutto assassination

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 11:17 AM on 12th February 2011

An anti-terrorism court judge has issued an arrest warrant for former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf in connection with the 2007 assassination of ex-premier Benazir Bhutto, state-run television reported.

The warrant is the latest legal trouble to face the retired general, a one-time U.S. ally who left Pakistan for Britain in 2008 after being forced out of the presidency he secured in a 1999 military coup.

Despite his promises to return to Pakistan and lead a new political party, court action against the former ruler makes it increasingly unlikely he will.

Along with issuing the warrant today, Judge Rana Nisar Ahmad also ordered Musharraf to appear before the court on February 19, Pakistan television reported.

Bhutto was killed on December 27, 2007, in a gun and suicide bomb blast during a rally weeks after returning to Pakistan to campaign in new elections that Musharraf had reluctantly agreed to allow after months of domestic and international pressure.

Al Qaeda claimed responsibility although the exact circumstances of her death remain unclear.

The basis for the arrest warrant was not immediately released, but many of Bhutto's supporters accuse the former president of intentionally not doing enough to ensure her protection, and trying to cover up government ineptitude in the case afterwards.

Musharraf spokesman Saif Ali Khan told reporters that the former leader will defend himself before the court 'at an appropriate time', but did not elaborate.


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