RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (Reuters) - A Pakistani anti-terrorism court on Thursday declared ex-military leader Pervez Musharraf a fugitive in the murder case of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and acquitted five people in the killing.
As an “absconder”, Musharraf must be arrested and brought to trial if he returns to Pakistan after being allowed to leave the country last year. The court also ordered Musharraf’s property in Pakistan seized.
Bhutto was assassinated in a suicide and gun attack in Rawalpindi in 2007, weeks after she returned from exile to campaign in elections to bring back civilian rule.
Bhutto’s daughter Aseefa Zardari tweeted after the court’s decision that “There will be no justice till Pervez Musharraf answers for his crimes!”
Five accused members of the Pakistani Taliban were found not guilty of any role in the attack due to a lack of evidence.
Special Prosecutor for the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Khawaja Mohammad Imtiaz said he found the acquittal surprising.
“We believe there was a very strong case against them,” he told reporters after the verdict, adding that three of the men had confessed to assisting in the attack.
The United States has told Sri Lanka that the disposition of the Iranian naval vessel IRIS Bushehr and its crew is a matter for Colombo to resolve under its own laws and international obligations, while signalling it is in active talks with Sri Lanka to contain Iran’s threat to US interests.
The government today granted permission for an Iranian warship with 208 on board to enter the country.
The Editor, of Lankaenews website Sandaruwan Senadheera was arrested at the Bandaranaike International Airport while returning from UK.
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