Pakistan - Musharraf should face courts if he is brave

The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has said General Pervez Musharraf should return to Pakistan and face the courts if he is really a brave person, Geo News reported on Friday.

He was responding to questions about the allegations, levelled by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, in Kamalia, a city in district Toba Tek Singh, on Friday. "He (Musharraf) should appear before courts," Zardari remarked.

The PPP leader questioned why clips of Musharraf dancing in disco clubs were circulating if he really had gone abroad to seek treatment for his backache. He wondered that he (Musharraf) was doing disco dance despite his backache.

Reacting to allegations about Murtaza Bhutto murder, Zardari claimed that the murder of Murtaza was a conspiracy to topple the government of Benazir Bhutto, who was the prime minister of Pakistan at that time. Zardari said Benazir Bhutto had said that one Bhutto was murdered to topple the government of another Bhutto. "Politics of the past was based on levelling allegations against political opponents," Zardari added.

The PPP leader also criticised his political opponents, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan. He remarked: "Nawaz does not know the art of governance. Nothing is achieved by building roads."

About Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, who is being probed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) currently, he said that Dar had fled the country. The PPP leader Qamar Zaman Kaira said: “We condemn the false allegations levelled by Musharraf.” Referring to the party’s recent defeat in NA-120 by-poll, the PPP leader said it was an alarming situation for the party. “Bilawal is with the people and he is holding public gatherings and rallies across the country,” said Kaira while responding to a question. Arif Ghias adds: Asif Ali Zardari visited Kamalia on Friday for condoling the death of Khalid Ahmad Kharal with his son, Haider Khan Kharal. He said the PTI government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had failed to develop the province during its four-year rule.

Former federal minister for interior Faisal Saleh Hayat, ex-minister of state for textile Rana Muhammad Farooq and ex-National Assembly deputy speaker Nawaz Khokhar were also present on the occasion.

Asim Yasin adds: PPP spokesman Senator Farhatullah Babar challenged Musharraf to be a man and return to the country and face in the courts the charges of complicity in the murder of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto as well as the charges of high treason. He said Musharraf had been unnerved by the admission by the LHC Rawalpindi Bench on Thursday of Asif Zardari's three appeals, one of which seeks death penalty for Musharraf for murdering Benazir Bhutto.

“As the PPP was not allowed to become a party to the case thus far, Musharraf liked to imagine that his crime will never be exposed and he will escape retribution,” he said, and added that the August 31 verdict of the Rawalpindi Anti-Terrorism Court opened the shut doors for Zardari to enter into the field as an aggrieved party and chase Musharraf to bring him to justice.

Farhatullah Babar said the Anti-Terrorism Court verdict declared Musharraf as absconder and separated his case. “Zardari's appeal to set aside the ATC order of May 8 and judgment of August 31 has been admitted for hearing by the LHC,” he said. Farhatullah Babar said Musharraf knows well as to what it means to be chased by law and by Zardari. “This explains why the dictator who prided himself to be a commando is so shaken and unnerved,” he said. The PPP spokesman said Musharraf's warnings to Benazir Bhutto that she would risk her life if she returned to Pakistan ahead of the 2008 elections and his refusal to provide her security are already well documented and need no elaboration. “Musharraf's patronage of the extremists is also well known. While in office he sought to fool the world with his claims of 'enlightened moderation', but when out of office he admitted to having aided the Taliban,” Babar said.

He said Musharraf knows that sooner or later as the long arms of the law will reach him and he will no longer be able to seek refuge in a hospital in Rawalpindi. Meanwhile, former interior minister and PPP senior leader Senator Rehman Malik said Musharraf’s statement against Asif Zardari is a pack of lies as he is making baseless allegations to wriggle himself out of murder case of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto.

"Mere levelling false allegations will not help Musharraf till he doesn't dare to appear before the court of law and go through trial,” he said in a statement. Rehman Malik said if Musharraf thinks he is innocent then why he is escaping the courts. He said Musharraf will get befitting response from him based on hard facts duly sustained with evidences as soon he returns to Pakistan.

Rehman Malik denied that he left Liaquat Bagh in his car after the unfortunate blast that took Benazir Bhutto's life. He added that he was asked by his fellows to sit with them in Farhatullah Babar's car in which Farhatullah Babar, Babar Awan and General (R) Touqeer were sitting.