By Aamir Latif
KARACHI, Pakistan
An arrest warrant has been issued for former Pakistan military ruler General Pervez Musharraf in connection with the murder of a firebrand cleric.
The Islamabad District Court, which is trying General Musharraf for his alleged involvement in the murder of Islamabad's Red Mosque cleric Abdul Rasheed Ghazi, ordered police on Thursday to arrest the former military ruler and detain him without bail if he does not appear before a judge on April 27.
Ghazi, along with hundreds of others, was killed in a military crackdown ordered by General Musharraf in July 2007.
General Musharraf, who has continuously avoided appearing before the court on grounds of what he has said was bad health, has been regularly attending political gatherings and giving TV interviews while on bail.
The former ruler, who ruled Pakistan from 1999 to 2008 after toppling the elected government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, is also facing trial in the murder cases of slain Premier Benazir Bhutto and veteran nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Bugti.
