Pakistan SC orders Musharraf high treason case probe

Pakistan Supreme Court Wednesday ordered the government to initiate investigation into the case of alleged high treason against former president Pervez Musharraf.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif told parliament last month that Musharraf would be tried for treason for abrogating the constitution twice. The government had formally informed the apex court, which had already received several petitions, seeking Musharraf's trial.

A three-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Jawad S. Khawaja, directed the government to pursue investigation in the high treason case against the former military ruler under the constitutional provisions, Xinhua reported Wednesday.

Attorney General Munir A. Malik informed the court that the special investigation committee has already initiated its work and assured the court that the government would move forward according to the directions of the court.

The government has formed a committee comprising four senior officers of the Federal Investigation Agency to question Musharraf about his actions during his 1999-2008 rule.

Musharraf had dismissed the elected government-led by Nawaz Sharif in October 1999 in a bloodless coup, shortly after he was removed as the country's army chief.

Musharraf quit as the president of Pakistan in August 2008 and then went into exile. He returned to the country in March to take part in the May 11 general elections. However, the courts disqualified him from running in the election.

He has been under house arrest at his farm house, which has now been declared a sub-jail, in Islamabad since April 19 for security concern. Musharraf has also been formally charged in the 2007 assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

Musharraf is also facing trial in the murder of a senior Baloch tribal leader, Nawab Akbar Bugti, who was killed in a military operation in 2006.