Islamabad: A Pakistani court on Saturday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for former President Pervez Musharraf for the third time in connection with a case related to former premier Benazir Bhutto's assassination and asked prosecutors to produce him in court within two weeks.
Judge Rana Nisar Ahmad, who is conducting the trial of five suspects charged with involvement in Bhutto's assassination, had first issued the arrest warrant on February 12.
He reissued it for the third time after prosecutors sought more time to ensure Musharraf's presence in court.
The prosecution asked the court to give them a month's time to serve the warrant but the judge gave them a fortnight.
The court issued the arrest warrant after investigators told the judge that Musharraf was not cooperating in efforts to question him regarding the assassination.
Prosecution lawyers also told the judge that they had approached the Foreign Ministry to help in serving the warrant to Musharraf in Britain, where he is currently living in self-exile.
After giving the prosecution more time to serve the warrant, the judge adjourned the case till March 19.
Musharraf, who was President when Bhutto was killed in December 2007, does not plan to return to Pakistan for the court proceedings, his aides have said.
The former President was recently named as an "absconder" by the Federal Investigation Agency for not cooperating in the probe into Bhutto s killing.
Bhutto was killed after addressing an election rally in Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007.
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