'Fugitive' Musharraf will be arrested on arrival: prosecutor

Former President Pervez Musharraf will be arrested on returning to Pakistan as an anti-terrorism court has declared him a "proclaimed offender" or a fugitive, a top prosecutor said today.

Musharraf is a "proclaimed offender" who will be arrested on his arrival in the country and there is no need of any warrant for making the arrest, Federal Investigation Agency prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali told reporters.

The former military ruler, currently living in Dubai and London in self-exile, has said he plans to return to the country on January 25 or 27 to lead his All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) party.

Musharraf was declared a fugitive last year by the Rawalpindi-based court conducting the trial of those charged with involvement in the December 2007 assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

The court issued the order after the former chief of the Pakistan Army spurned several orders to cooperate with investigators probing the assassination on December 27.

In a related development, Musharraf's wife Sebha today challenged the court's order declaring him a proclaimed offender.

She said in a petition filed in the court that Musharraf had gone abroad before the case related to Bhutto's assassination was initiated.

Wrong sections of the law were invoked in declaring Musharraf a proclaimed offender and the process was completed in a faulty manner, she contended.

The court issued a notice to the FIA and adjourned the hearing of her petition till January 21.

The Pakistani court also adjourned the hearing of Bhutto's assassination case till January 17 after defence lawyers failed to appear for today's proceedings.

The judge took strict notice of the absence of the lawyers and ordered that their presence be ensured at the next hearing.

Prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali told reporters outside the court that the defence lawyers were using delaying tactics in the case.