Benazir murder case: FIA summoned on arrest warrant delays

British government flatly refuses to hand over Musharraf.

RAWALPINDI:

A Rawalpindi anti-terrorism court summoned Wajid Zia, the chief of the joint investigation team (JIT) in the Benazir Bhutto assassination case, to personally appear on April 9 and inform the court about the delay in serving arrest warrants on former president Pervez Musharraf.

Criticising the inordinate delay, Special ATC Judge Rana Nasir Ahmed asked Zia to submit a compliance report by that date.

During the court proceedings, FIA’s Deputy Director Khalid Rasool is reported to have told the court that they again sent a letter to the British High Commission, requesting them to send back his arrest warrants.

“We have sent them a fresh letter requesting the British authorities to send back the arrest warrants, whether served or not,” he added.

Public Prosecutor Chaudhry Azhar said that it seemed that there “is a Musharraf sympathiser…in the Foreign Office who may be impeding the (issuance) of his arrest warrants”.

He said Kashif Riaz, the SHO of the City police station, Rawalpindi, a plaintiff in the case, was trying to “escape from the country”. He said that Riaz should be stopped from going abroad “because he was in possession of important evidence because he led an investigation when the former prime minister  was assassinated”.

At the previous hearing, Chaudhry Azhar had told the court that Pakistan would seek Interpol’s help in arresting the former president.

On February 18, the court re-issued non-bailable arrest warrants against Musharraf to be served on him at his London address.

The former president is allegedly involved in the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Musharraf, despite being aware of the imminent danger to Bhutto’s life, did not take the requisite security measures to prevent her assassination, according to the findings of a 57-page report submitted earlier before the court.

The FIA has so far submitted three separate charge-sheets in this case.

The first one in May last year, which held the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan responsible for the assassination. The second was submitted in September 2010. It held former police officials Saud Aziz and Khurram Shahzad responsible for the murder. The third one was submitted in February and it held Musharraf responsible for Bhutto’s murder.

According to an Express 24/7 report, the British government has refused to extradite former president Pervez Musharraf in the Benazir Bhutto murder case, citing the absence of an extradition treaty between the two countries, according a report made public on Saturday.

The FIA submitted the report which it said it had received from the British Home Department during the proceedings. Sources told Express 24/7 reporter that the federal authorities would urge the court to declare the former president ‘wanted’ in the case.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 03^rd, 2011.