Pakistan court orders arrest of ex-president Musharraf in Bhutto case

ISLAMABAD,  (Reuters) – A Pakistani court today  issued an arrest warrant for exiled former president Pervez  Musharraf in connection with the 2007 assassination of Benazir  Bhutto, officially implicating him for first time in the death  of the former prime minister and rival.
Bhutto, who was an opponent of Musharraf’s rule, was killed  in a gun and suicide bomb attack after an election rally in the  city of Rawalpindi on Dec. 27, 2007, weeks after she returned to  Pakistan following years in self-imposed exile.
Her assassination was one of the most shocking events in  Pakistan’s turbulent history and remains shrouded in mystery.
“The court has issued an arrest warrant and asked that  he (Musharraf) should be produced before the court during the  next hearing on February 19,” said Musharraf spokesman Mohammad  Ali Saif, adding that Musharraf is accused of not providing  adequate security for Bhutto.
“There is a frivolous allegation, a baseless  allegation… that he was involved in the assassination of  Benazir Bhutto.”
Since Musharraf has limited support within Pakistan,  the arrest warrant is unlikely to stir up a backlash against the  government of this unstable U.S. ally where a coalition headed  by the Pakistan People’s Party of the late Bhutto is in power.
Her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, is now president and is  struggling to cope with the multiple challenges, including a  stubborn Taliban insurgency and a stagnant economy.
Saif said Musharraf would cooperate with the judiciary  if asked to recount his version of events, but did not say if he  would appear in court.
The former military chief, who came to power in a  bloodless coup in 1999, has lived in self-imposed exile since he  stepped down under threat of impeachment in 2008. He spends most  of his time in London and Dubai.
Prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali said the warrant had been  issued on the recommendations of a joint investigation team  which “had attached evidence” against Musharraf and declared him  an absconder. He did not elaborate.
Shafqat Mahmood, a political analyst, described the  arrest  warrant as a “symbolic gesture” that would have no impact on  Pakistani politics.
“Nothing is happening. Musharraf actually doesn’t mean much    in Pakistani politics. We are making too much of him,” he said.
Musharraf, who become embroiled in a row with the judiciary  and briefly imposed a state of emergency in 2007, has said he  realised his popularity had plummeted because of some wrong  decisions he had made in the last year of his presidency.
A U.N. report said no one believed the 15-year-old suicide  bomber who killed Bhutto acted alone, and the failure to examine  her death effectively appeared to be deliberate, but the  commission did not say who it believed was guilty.
In October, Musharraf apologised to Pakistan for mistakes he  made in office and said he would return to the country as the  new head of a political party in time for elections due by 2013.
The warrant for Musharraf’s arrest follows a similar court  order in December for the arrest of two senior police officerson  allegations they failed to provide adequate security forBhutto  before her assassination.
A report by a U.N. commission of inquiry released last year  said any credible investigation into Bhutto’s killing should not  rule out the possibility that members of Pakistan’s military and  security establishment were involved.