Probe against Musharraf to be completed in 6 weeks

Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency on Saturday said it would complete a probe into the 2007 emergency imposed by former President Pervez Musharraf in six weeks.

FIA Director General Saud Mirza said the statements of some bureaucrats had been recorded as part of the probe, the Dawn newspaper reported on its website.

The investigation will be completed within six weeks, he said.

Mr Mirza said the probe was launched on the directives of the Interior Minister and Mr Musharraf’s statement would soon be recorded.

Though the government ordered the inquiry in late June, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said on October 12 that he had asked the FIA to fast-track the case of high treason against Mr Musharraf and to take the matter to a logical conclusion in six weeks.

The case was registered against Musharraf for subverting the Constitution by imposing emergency in November 2007. The emergency lasted until December 15 of the same year.

In July 2009, the Supreme Court ruled that the military strongman’s decision to impose emergency was unconstitutional and illegal.

Mr Musharraf is currently seeking bail in a case over the killing of cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi during a military crackdown on the radical Lal Masjid in 2007.

He has already been granted bail in three other key cases, including one related to the 2007 emergency and another over the killing of former premier Benazir Bhutto.

Mr Musharraf has been under arrest for nearly six months at his farmhouse on the outskirts of Islamabad, guarded by nearly 300 security personnel, including soldiers and snipers.

He took power in a 1999 coup and ruled as President until he resigned when he was threatened with impeachment in 2008.

He then went into self-imposed exile and returned to Pakistan in March to resurrect his political career.

His party says that as and when Mr Musharraf gets bail in all the cases, he will remain in Pakistan and fight all cases.

However, many say he could fly out of the country.

The Interior Ministry recently confirmed that Mr Musharraf was included in the Exit Control List, which has the names of people barred from travelling out of Pakistan.