Islamabad: Pakistani authorities will arrest former president Pervez Musharraf if he returns to the country as announced at the end of January after nearly three years in self-exile.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Wednesday assured the Senate or upper house of Parliament that Musharraf would be arrested under the law of the land whenever he arrives in Pakistan.
"The moment, he (Musharraf) lands, he will go to jail," he said. The minister was responding to several points of order raised by lawmakers, who demanded that action should be taken against the former dictator for treason as he had violated the constitution.
Malik said action would be taken against Musharraf as a court had declared him a "proclaimed offender" or a fugitive.
"There are three registered cases against him. He has been named in these cases, so ultimately he will be arrested," Malik said.
He proposed that the Senate could pass a resolution against Musharraf as he had violated the Constitution by imposing martial law on October 12, 1999 and an emergency on November 3, 2007.
Musharraf recently announced that he intended to return to Pakistan between January 27 and 30 to lead his party in the next general election.
He seized power in 1999 in Pakistan's third military coup but was forced to step down as President in August 2008 after the Pakistan People's Party formed a government following elections.
In October, a court issued a warrant for his arrest over the killing of Baloch nationalist leader Akbar Bugti in a military operation in August 2006.
Another court declared him a fugitive and issued a separate warrant for his arrest for failing to cooperate with investigators probing the 2007 assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto.
Malik told the Senate that the PML-N should lodge a complaint against Musharraf for toppling its government in 1999.
He appealed to the Supreme Court Chief Justice to take suo moto action against the former dictator for arresting judges after imposing emergency in 2009.
He informed the House that he would soon reveal some facts about the National Reconciliation Ordinance, a graft amnesty issued by Musharraf, in his forthcoming book.
"I will inform about the person who drafted the NRO," he said.
Malik made it clear that the PPP had nothing to do with the NRO and the current democratic system was the result of Benazir Bhutto's reconciliatory efforts.
Law Minister Maula Bux Chandio supported the calls for Musharraf's arrest and said there were several cases pending against the former President.
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