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RAWALPINDI, April 23: An anti-terrorism court refused on Saturday to declare former president Pervez Musharraf proclaimed offender in the Benazir Bhutto assassination case and adjourned the hearing till May 7.
Judge Rana Nisar Ahmed told the Federal Investigation Agency's special public prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar that the accused could be declared a proclaimed offender only after the return of the unexecuted warrants.The prosecutor informed the court that the British authorities had refused to help arrest the former president because there was no extradition treaty between Britain and Pakistan.
He requested the court to start the process of declaring the general proclaimed offender because his arrest warrants could not be served on him and he was wilfully avoiding them.
The prosecutor submitted to the court a compact disc of a TV interview of the former president in which he had talked about his arrest warrants.
The court, however, declined to accept the prosecution's request and directed the FIA to submit the arrest warrants it had issued citing the address of the former president's London residence.
According to legal experts, declaring the former army chief a proclaimed offender would enable the court to attach his immovable property in Pakistan and proceed with the trial of other accused in the case, leaving the authorities to seek other means for his arrest.
Mr Musharraf has been accused of failing to provide adequate security to Benazir Bhutto and conspiring to kill her.
Police officers Saud Aziz and Khurram Shahzad, who are accused of destroying incriminating evidence by getting the crime scene washed down, recently obtained bail from the Lahore High Court.
Other accused – Sher Zaman, Aitzaz Shah, Hasnain Gul, Abdul Rasheed and Rafaqat Hussain – have been arrested for allegedly conspiring to kill the former prime minister.
