Benazir assassination case: Musharraf asks Interpol to dismiss red warrant
Former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf has approached Interpol to seek dismissal of a request from the Pakistan government for issuance of his red warrant in Benazir Bhutto’s assassination case.
The former army chief sought the international police’s help following a third request from Pakistan to the Interpol headquarters last week, seeking a red warrant for him.
“Musharraf has sought Interpol’s assistance under Article 3 of Interpol’s Constitution, which enshrines the guiding principle of neutrality by explicitly forbidding Interpol from engaging in matters of political, military, religious and racial character,” a senior official associated with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) told The Express Tribune on Sunday.
The official, who is dealing with Benazir Bhutto’s assassination case, revealed that Musharraf has requested Interpol to treat his case as a matter of “political and military character”.
“Interpol may reject Pakistan’s request as neutrality has always been paramount to Interpol whose activities transcend international politics,” he quoted a friend of Musharraf as saying.
The former military ruler sent this letter to the Commission for the Control of Interpol’s Files (CCF) earlier this month.
The CCF which operates in line with a number of official rules and documents sought more evidence and is monitoring Pakistan’s request.
In response to a question, the official claimed that the Interpol headquarters never rejected Pakistan’s request as reported by the media. “Interpol did not reject our request. It only asked for more documents,” he said, adding that this time they sent more documentary proof to the CCF to ensure Musharraf’s arrest.
Interpol reportedly informed the FIA that it could not issue a red warrant for Musharraf due to insufficient evidence and documentation presented to the CCF.
Consequently, FIA’s prosecutor in Benazir’s murder case Azhar Chaudhry told The Express Tribune that the FIA has again sent additional investigation reports and copies of statements by the then director general of the Intelligence Bureau Ejaz Shah and director-general of the Inter-Services Intelligence’s (ISI) counter-intelligence wing Javed Iqbal Cheema. Copies of Rawalpindi ATC’s order and US-based journalist Marc Siegel’s email to Benazir Bhutto were also sent to the CCF. “The CCF is the final authority to decide Musharraf’s fate,” Chaudhry said.
Pakistan also sought the United Kingdom’s assistance in this case but the British government rejected the appeal on the grounds that the two countries have no formal extradition treaty.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 24th, 2012.
COMMENTS (17)
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Pervez Musharraf is as bad, or even worse than, a common criminal. He plundered the state coffers, milked the U.S. of large sums of money (all parked in Dubai, U.K. and USA) and then went on the infamous 'denial and deception' policy. He is also the man who masterminded the disastrous Kargil campaign against India in which thousands of Pakistani soldiers perished. Discovering that it was a major strategic blunder, he tried everything to quickly withdraw and asked President Clinton to hold back India which was in no restraining mood at that time. As far as Interpol is concerned, this man deserves to be arrested at once. We wonder how he manages to fly between Dubai, London and New York. ET should investigate this aspect of Musharraf's life and it would discover many newsworthy stories.
i pray for president musharrafs early return and successful stand in the next elections. he offers the most experience in handling whatever pakistan is facing today, as his time is still remembered fondly by most patriotic pakistanis. everyone makes mistakes, but his successes were far more. as george bernard shaw said, 'success erases a multitude of errors.'
What Interpole can do in this case . Musarraf is a promising candidate in the next election because of his anti terrorist policies and that's why all other parties wants to root him out . The case is politicaly motivated . He will certainly contest the next election in Pakistan .
If Pakistan was serious about bring Musharraf back they would negotiate an extradition treaty with the UK -- nobody (including your own govt) thinks that Interpol is going to circumvent UK sovereignty to bring Musharraf to Pakistan.
"Pakistan’s economy is far more liberal now than it was during Musharraf’s time".
Please elaborate on how you have come to this conclusion!!
Today we have the most corrupt government in the history of Pakistan.
At the time of the earthquake foreign governments donated 6.7 billion dollars for rehabilitation and this went a long way. But at the time of the massive floods a couple of years back thanks to the lack of credibility of this 'democratic' govt hardly any funds came in.
who is the biggest beneficiary of this case? Mush crime may be to order washing of the place and just because of this investigations could not take place despite PPP in govt for 5 years. This step has avoided Liaquat bagh to become a shrine.
Its time both Mushraff and Adolf Hitler come back to Pakistan.
anything agianst musharaf ? the man who gave my nation and my generation a hope to live for & in Pakistan from 1998-2009 ... no sir ,,, i trust that man ... and dont trust any marc siegel or condolezza rice or UN probe or anything ... he was our only solution and may god give us a man juz like him in future
If the red warrant is lifted, will he come back to Pakistan willingly and prove his innocence ?
among all, Musharraf is the least trustworthy in the leadership of Pakistan.he shamelessly lied about kargil war to international community,to India,to his own country people. the peace that had existed during his time was not due to strict vigilance,but because the mullahs were in his pockets,even the economy of Pakistan performed better because they were heavily funded by Arabs,not because he was some kind of great economist, Pakistan's economy is far more liberal now than it was during Musharraf's time.but he is a man who has pretty good idea of what he is doing and has the courage to do so.this man talks reality while imran tells fairy tale,it is appeasing to hear them,but we all know that they never come true.
Sadly I have not kept up with the case. I just assumed that whoever killed her would get away with it.
Pride hath a fall.
He is right, when Taliban (Upon OBL's death) openly admitted that they killed BB, then why are they wrongfully trying to inplicate him in this case? We must learn to rise above ourselves and stop being blind in hatred towards anyone.
These documents doesn't provide any solid base to issue red warrant against Musharraf! everyone knows that this is political motivated case. If Interpol search this even in Google, they will get to know that it's politically motivated case.