Report on Musharraf warrants: ATC judge issues final notice to FIA

In case of non-compliance, the court will proceed against the agency.

RAWALPINDI:

A trial court issued a final warning to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Saturday to submit a conclusive report on the warrants issued for the arrest of former president Pervez Musharraf in the Benazir Bhutto assassination case.

A special judge of the anti-terrorism court, Rana Nisar Ahmed, directed the FIA Director- General Malik Muhammad Iqbal to submit a report about whether the warrants had been executed till the next date of hearing, May 21.

The judge, while hearing the case in Adiyala jail, summoned the FIA chief to give a final date for its response. The head of the FIA said he could not give a timeframe as the matter was in the hands of the ministries of interior and foreign affairs.

Annoyed, the judge said it would be the FIA’s last chance to file a report on the warrants. In case of non-compliance, the court will proceed according to law.

Speaking to the media after the hearing, Advocate Malik Muhammad Rafiq and Malik Waheed Anjum, representing accused police officers Saud Aziz and Khurram Shahzad said the court should proceed against Musharraf to avoid any inordinate delay.

Musharraf was included in the list of accused in the BB murder case and declared an absconder by the FIA in February. He is accused of threatening former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and conspiring to kill her.

Aziz and Shahzad recently obtained bail from the Lahore High Court on charges of destroying necessary incriminating evidence and washing the crime scene after the December 27, 2007, blast that killed Bhutto.

Other accused, Sher Zaman, Aitzaz Shah, Hasnain Gul, Abdul Rasheed and Rafaqat Hussain are also in prison for being part of a conspiracy hatched by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan to kill the former prime minister.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 8^th, 2011.