RAWALPINDI, July 2: The indictment of former president General (retired) Pervez Musharraf in the Benazir Bhutto murder case was delayed as neither his counsel nor the prosecutor in the murder case appeared before the anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Rawalpindi on Tuesday.

The former military ruler could also not be produced in the court due to security reasons.

Subsequently, the ATC Judge, Chaudhry Habibur Rehman, had to adjourn the proceeding till July 9 with a direction to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the local police to produce him in the court on the next hearing, so that he can be indicted.

The court may charge sheet Gen Musharraf under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 109 (abetment), 117 (facilitation of crime) and section 302 (murder) of the Pakistan Panel Code (PPC).

Ms Bhutto was killed in a gun and bomb attack outside Liaquat Bagh on December 27, 2007.

During the last hearing of the high-profile murder case on June 25, the FIA had submitted challan against Gen Musharraf placing him in the column specified for those accused who have been granted bail. It may be noted that the ATC granted bail to the former military ruler in the Benazir murder case on May 20.

Earlier, the name of Gen Musharraf was in the column of absconders, including Baitullah Mehsud, the alleged mastermind of the murder. In the challan, the prosecution agency nominated 15 persons as accused. The other accused included Ibadur Rehman, Abdullah alias Saddam, Faiz Mohammad, Ikramullah, Nasrullah and Nadir alias Qari Ismail.

The under-custody accused persons are Mohammad Rafaqat, Hasnain Gul, Sher Zaman, Aitzaz Shah and Rasheed Ahmed. Two other accused persons - then Rawalpindi police chief Saud Aziz and SP Khurram Shahzad Haider - have already been released on bail but are facing trial in the court.

According to Mohammad Azhar Chaudhry, the FIA special prosecutor, the Rawalpindi police expressed its inability to provide heavy security to Musharraf to produce him before the ATC on Tuesday.

When contacted by Dawn, the prosecutor said the Rawalpindi police did not provide him necessary security for coming to the ATC and back to Islamabad.

He said the production of Gen Musharraf in the court was the responsibility of the law enforcement agencies, adding he himself was dependent on the security of police and Rangers.

In the challan submitted against Gen Musharraf, the FIA also incorporated the statement of American lobbyist Mark Siegel.

According to the statement, Mr Siegel claimed that on September 25, 2007, in his presence at the office of US Congressman Tom Lantos in Washington, Ms Bhutto received a telephone call which she said was a very ‘bad call’ from Pervez Musharraf. Siegel in the statement alleged that Musharraf had warned Ms Bhutto that her security would only be guaranteed if she returned to Pakistan after the 2008 elections.

The FIA also accused Gen Musharraf of not providing security to Ms Bhutto which she deserved as a former prime minister.

According to the challan, during the course of interrogation Gen Musharraf denied the allegations and insisted that being head of the state he was not responsible for security-related issues of individuals. Rather, it was the domain of the interior ministry. However, contrary to Musharraf’s claim, the then interior secretary Kamal Shah in his statement claimed that he had forwarded a request to the former president Musharraf for providing security to three former prime ministers - Ms Bhutto, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Shaukat Aziz. To this, Musharraf approved security for Shujaat and Shaukat Aziz but did not respond to the request regarding Ms Bhutto’s security, said the challan.