Interpol red corner notice for Musharaf?

ISLAMABAD: The government may ask the Interpol to issue a Red Corner Notice for former President Pervez Musharraf if Pakistani authorities sought

his arrest in connection with a case related to the killing of Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Bugti, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Wednesday.

Malik made the remarks after the Balochistan High Court on Wednesday directed the police to register a case against Musharraf and several of his close aides, including former premier Shaukat Aziz, in connection with the killing of Bugti in a military operation in 2006.

He said Musharraf is no longer the President and did not enjoy any sort of immunity. The government can ask the Interpol to issue Red Corner Notices for Musharraf and Aziz if authorities and investigating officers in Balochistan make a request in this regard, Malik told reporters.

The Balochistan High Court issued its order in response to a petition filed by Bugti's son Jamil Akbar Bugti. The court had earlier summoned Musharraf to appear before it for today's hearing but neither he nor his counsel was present at the proceedings.

The court directed police in Dera Bugti district to register a First Information Report and to conduct an investigation.

Musharraf, who resigned as President in August last year, is currently in the US for a lecture tour. He has been living outside Pakistan since mid-April.

Besides Musharraf and Aziz, Jamil Bugti had asked the court to direct the police to register a case against former Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, former Balochistan Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani and several other persons.

Bugti was killed with 37 of his followers in a military operation in Dera Bugti on August 26, 2006. Musharraf had ordered the operation against Bugti, a former Chief Minister of Balochistan and leader of the Jamhoori Watan Party.