Musharraf to be held 14 days
October 11, 2013
A court in Islambad ordered ex-Pakistan leader Musharraf to be held for 14 days. The decision on Friday related to accusations stemming from 2007 when the former military ruler is alleged to have ordered a raid on Lal Masjid, known as the Red Mosque in English, in which over 100 people were killed.
There was no immediate comment available from Musharraf.
Authorities arrested the former leader on Thursday after he had already been granted bail in at least two other cases against him.
Musharraf has found himself tangled in several legal disputes since returning to Pakistan from exile earlier this year. In early September, an Islamabad court charged him with the death of the radical cleric Abdul Rashid Gahzi, who was killed in the same 2007 raid.
Pervez Musharraf ruled Pakistan from 1999-2008, when he resigned after his supporters suffered a defeat in elections. He subsequently lived in London in self-imposed exile. In April, he returned to his home country, but soon found himself placed under house arrest, where he has remained ever since.
The most prominent charges against him were in connection with the assassination of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who died in an attack on a political rally in 2007. An anti-terrorism court formally indicted him in her murder in August for not doing enough to protect her.
He also faces charges in the 2007 detention of judges and the death of a Baluch nationalist leader.
Pakistan's new government under Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who was deposed by Muharraf in 1999, intends to try him on treason charges for suspending the country's constitution and imposing emergency rule during his last year in power.
kms/ph (AFP, Reuters)