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Pakistani court summons Musharraf over U.S. drone strikes

24 October 2012 17:50 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. A Pakistani court on Wednesday summoned former President Pervez Musharraf to explain his position on the U.S. drone strikes in the country’s northwest tribal regions, lawyers said, APA, reports quoting Xinhua.

Petitions say that Musharraf, who took power in a bloodless coup in 1999 and resigned as President in 2008 to avoid a parliamentary impeachment, had allowed strikes by the U.S. spy aircraft.

Musharraf, who lives in exile in Britain and UAE, has denied agreeing to the U.S. drone attacks.

The Peshawar High Court issued a notice to Musahrraf when a U.S. drone strike in North Waziristan on Wednesday killed at least two people.

A group of religious parties, known as the Defence of Pakistan Council, has moved against the drone attacks and the killing of innocent people including women and children in these attacks. They submitted petitions to the court to seek details about agreement signed by Musharraf with the U.S. on the drone strikes.

Defence lawyer FM Sabir asked the court to issue arrest warrant for Mushrraf. However, the two-member bench served a notice on Musharraf, ordered him to appear at next hearing with the date to be announced later.

Several courts have issued arrest warrants for Musharraf in cases including the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was killed in a suicide attack in December 2007 when Musharraf was the President. He has never appeared in any court but said he will defend himself in court after he returns home.

Musharraf has also launched his own political party, All Pakistan Muslim League, in exile and announced that he will end exile after date for the parliamentary elections are announced. Elections are due early next year.

A top defence official has reportedly told a parliamentary panel this week that the U.S. carried out drone strikes from an air base in Balochistan province with the government’s approval. But later he retracted his remarks.