London:
Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has reportedly said he won't return to his country for now. He had earlier been quoted as saying that he would return to Pakistan at the end of this month.
General Musharraf's reported announcement comes a day after Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik assured the Senate or upper house of parliament that General Musharraf would be arrested as soon as he landed in Pakistan. "The moment, he (Musharraf) lands, he will go to jail," he said.
The minister was responding to several points of order raised by lawmakers, who demanded that action should be taken against the former dictator for treason as he had violated the Constitution. Mr Malik said action would be taken against General Musharraf as a court had declared him a "proclaimed offender" or fugitive.
The 68-year-old former President, is currently living in self-exile in England. He faces many civil and criminal cases that were filed across Pakistan after he stepped down as President in 2008. "There are three registered cases against him. He has been named in these cases, so ultimately he will be arrested," Mr Malik said. He proposed that the Senate pass a resolution against Gen Musharraf as he had violated the Constitution by imposing martial law on October 12, 1999 and an emergency on November 3, 2007.
In October last year, a court issued a warrant for Gen Musharraf's arrest over the killing of Baloch nationalist leader Akbar Bugti in a military operation in August 2006.
Gen Musharraf seized power in 1999 in Pakistan's third military coup, and was forced to step down as President in August 2008 after the Pakistan People's Party formed a government following elections. Gen Musharraf floated a party, the All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) in 2010. He then was recently quoted as saying that he intended to return to Pakistan between January 27 and 30 to lead his party in the next general elections.