Interior minister ‘wasn’t aware of Musharraf’s non-bailable warrants’

ISLAMABAD: Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar on Monday said he was not aware that a court had issued non-bailable arrest warrants for former military ruler Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf and that no one has given any guarantees for his return to Pakistan.

Speaking to media representatives at his chamber in the Parliament, he said a government petition filed in the Supreme Court had stated that Pervez Musharraf, if allowed to leave the country, would not return.

“The special court had declared Pervez Musharraf a free man and I had no knowledge of the issuance of non-bailable arrest warrants for him. Islamabad police said nothing about this,” he maintained.

Chaudhry Nisar said Hamid khan of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) did file a petition against Pervez Musharraf but he failed to pursue the case.

The minister said it was not the government but customs intelligence that got model Ayyan Ali’s name placed on the Exit Control List (ECL).

Musharraf had left the country after the government removed his name from the ECL in light of the Supreme Court orders.

Pakistan’s top court had allowed the former dictator to travel out of the country for medical treatment.

Hearing a petition filed by the federal government against removal of Musharraf’s name from the ECL, the apex court on Wednesday upheld an earlier decision by the Sindh High Court and rejected the government’s appeal to stop the former military general from leaving the country.

"Appeal is dismissed," the court said in a short order.

“As of this date, there are no restrictions on Pervez Musharraf barring him from traveling out of the country,” his lawyer Farogh Naseem told reporters outside the Supreme Court.

Musharraf, 70, is facing a number of high profile cases, including murder and high treason. He was indicted for treason last year over his imposition of emergency rule in 2007.