Gilani Warns Musharraf Will Be Arrested if he Returns to Pakistan

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani warned that if the country’s former president Pervez Musharraf tries to return home, he will be subject to arrest.

Musharraf, who ruled Pakistan from 1999 to 2008, has vowed to return to the country and even run in upcoming elections.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Gilani told CNN: “In fact there had been murder charges against him, and there had even been some very grave charges against him, and the Supreme Court had already given a verdict against him. Certainly when he’ll come back, he has to face those charges and certainly be arrested.”

Apparently, Musharraf, who has been living in self-imposed exile in both Dubai and Great Britain for the past four years, might be re-assessing his options.

Earlier this week, the upper house of Pakistan’s Parliament passed a non-binding which calls for the arrest of Musharraf on charges of treason and committing unconstitutional acts during his tenure.

The charges center on Musharraf’s alleged failure to provide suffiicient security for former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto during her triumphant return to Pkaisran in 2007. While campaigning late that year near the city of Rawalpindi, Bhutto was murdered.

Musharraf has denied the allegations.

Asif Ali Zardari, the current President of Pakistan, is Bhutto’s widow.

Meanwhile, some members of Musharraf’s All Pakistan Muslin League (APML) are confident that the former leader will eventually return to the country.

Mohammad Saif, general secretary of APML, told reporters in Dubai: Musharraf will return to Pakistan, that's for sure. But we are waiting for the tension between the government and the Supreme Court to subside.”