ISLAMABAD: The British government has refused to hand over former president Pervez Musharraf to Pakistani authorities in the Benazir Bhutto murder case, DawnNews reported.

Musharraf, who was president when Benazir was killed in December 2007 in a gun and suicide bomb attack, is in self-imposed exile in London and his spokesman has repeatedly said he will not be going back to Pakistan for any court hearing.

The former president and military ruler is alleged to have been part of a “broad conspiracy” to have his political rival killed before elections, though the exact nature of the charges against him is not clear.

Benazir Bhutto was killed after addressing an election campaign rally in Rawalpindi, near the capital Islamabad, on December 27, 2007.