Police registers murder case against ex-Pakistani president Musharraf

Pakistan police accused former president Pervez Musharraf over the alleged murder of Ghazi Abdul Rasheed and his mother during a military operation in Lal Masjid (Red Mosque). Islamabad High Court (IHC) ordered the registration of the case against the former military ruler in connection with the killing of Ghazi Abdul Rasheed, former cleric of Lal Masjid, and his mother Sahiba Khatoon. Justice of the IHC disposed of a petition filed by Abdul Rasheed's son, Haroon Rasheed, and ordered the Aabpara police to record the petitioner's statement and register a First Information Report (FIR) in accordance with law over possible cognizable offence. Earlier, the former military ruler came to Pakistan after four years of self imposed exile to participate in May 11 general elections. However, the Election Commission of Pakistan rejected his nomination papers and court imposed a permanent ban on him to participate in elections. The former military strongman had to face number of cases against him including the Lal Masjid case. The Lal Masjid situated in the Pakistani capital city Islamabad, that was built in 1965 and is named for its red walls and interiors, came under a military operation in 2007 during the Musharraf rule. After the assassination of the former head of the mosque Maulana Muhammad Abdullah in 1998, his sons Abdul Aziz Ghazi and Abdul Rasheed Ghazi took over the charge of the mosque. In early 2007 Maulan Rasheed initiated move by taking possession of the Children Library located in the adjacent by using the female student force and the situation got worse. An operation was launched to evacuate the mosque killing 103 people including Pakistan military troops who were killed in retaliation by the suspected militants inside the mosque. The Advocate for Musharraf argued that there was no evidence that the former president had directly issued orders for the Lal Masjid operation in 2007. He further added that the chief cleric of Lal Masjid, Abdul Aziz, was facing 27 cases in different courts and the Islamabad administration had launched the operation to establish the writ of the government with the approval of competent authority and requisitioned the army through proper channel.