Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: A court once again issued non-bailable arrest warrants for former president General (r) Pervez Musharraf in connection with Ghazi Abdul Rasheed murder case on Wednesday. A district court in Islamabad ordered the police to arrest the former military dictator and produce him before it on April 12. It also issued notices to both of Musharraf’s guarantors who had submitted surety bonds in favour of the former ruler and directed them to ensure his presence on the next date of proceedings. Abdul Rashid Ghazi was killed during an army operation on Lal Masjid in July 2011. In September 2013, the Aabpara police registered an FIR against Musharraf on the direction of the Islamabad High Court (IHC). From time to time Musharraf, through his counsel, moved several applications for exemption from his personal attendance, but they were turned down. This is the fifth non-bailable arrest warrant issued against Musharraf in the case. The military operation was launched in July 2007 after the civil administration failed to get a children’s library on the premises of Lal Masjid vacated by the mosque administration. Since January 2006, Lal Masjid and the adjacent Jamia Hafsa madrasah had been operated by militants led by two brothers, Maulana Abdul Aziz and Abdul Rashid Ghazi. This organisation advocated the imposition of Sharia in Pakistan and openly called for the overthrow of the government.