Pakistan court orders confiscation of Musharraf's assets

A Pakistani anti-terrorism court on Saturday ordered the confiscation of former president Pervez Musharraf's assets for his failure to appear before it despite repeated summons in connection with the Benazir Bhutto murder case, court officials said.

According to officials, the forfeiture order covers the ex-military ruler's farm house in Islamabad and a 1,000 square yard plot of land in Gawadar Port area in southwestern Balochistan province.

The court was informed that requests made to the GHQ and the Defence Housing Authority to provide details of any plots or land granted to Musharraf during his army service had remained unanswered and a decision would be made upon the receipt of the required information, the officials said.

The anti-terrorism court, which has been holding trial of seven accused including two former senior police officers in the Benazir Bhutto assassination case, had summoned Musharraf to appear before it and when he ignored the summons the court had issued a permanent arrest warrant against him.

Bhutto was assassinated in bomb and gun attack on December 27, 2007 in Rawalpindi when she was leaving an election rally venue after delivering a message.