RAWALPINDI – The Anti-Terrorist Court (ATC) gave the Federal Intelligence Agency (FIA) one more week to serve an arrest warrant on former president Pervez Musharraf over the murder of ex-premier Benazir Bhutto, court officials said.
Musharraf, who was president when Bhutto was killed in December 2007 in a gun and suicide bomb attack in Rawalpindi, is accused of failing to provide her with adequate security. He now lives in self-imposed exile in London.
Judge Rana Nisar Ahmad, who issued the arrest warrant on February 12, early this month gave police two more weeks to arrest the former military ruler. The warrant has been sent to Britain’s Home Office for compliance, prosecution lawyer Azhar Chaudhry said, citing a letter sent Saturday from Pakistan’s High Commission in London to the court.
“The High Commission hopes to get a reply from the British Home Office within a week,” he said.
The court — which met in Adiyala prison, in the garrison city of Rawalpindi — adjourned proceedings until March 26 at the request of the prosecution, he added.
Bhutto was killed after addressing an election campaign rally in Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007. Musharraf is alleged to have been part of a “broad conspiracy” to have his political rival killed before elections, though the exact nature of the charges against him is not clear.
Bhutto, who served two terms as prime minister, returned from exile two months before she was assassinated. Her widower, Asif Ali Zardari, led her Pakistan People’s Party to election victory in 2008 and is now president.
At the time of Bhutto’s death, Musharraf’s government blamed the assassination on Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who denied any involvement and was subsequently killed in a US drone attack.
