More legal trouble for Pakistan's Musharraf

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A Pakistani court on Wednesday rejected bail for ex-military ruler Pervez Musharraf in a case connected to the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007, a government prosecutor said.

It was the latest setback for Musharraf, who returned to Pakistan last month from four years in self-imposed exile to make a political comeback but is currently under house arrest in connection with a different case.

Musharraf returned to run in the parliamentary election scheduled for May 11, but was disqualified because of his actions while in power and is spending most of his time battling legal cases.

He seized power in a military coup in 1999 when he was army chief. He was serving as president when Bhutto was killed in a gun and bomb attack in December 2007, shortly after she returned from exile to contest the elections.

Musharraf blamed the Pakistani Taliban for Bhutto's slaying, but government investigators later said there was evidence of his involvement. A U.N. report faulted Musharraf's government for failing to provide Bhutto with adequate security.

Musharraf has denied the allegations against him.

The former military ruler had arranged a pre-arrest bail in the Bhutto case and several others before returning to Pakistan, meaning he could not be immediately arrested on arrival.

On Wednesday, the Islamabad High Court rejected Musharraf's bail after his lawyer failed to appear to argue for an extension in the Bhutto case, said government prosecutor Zulfikar Chaudhry.

Musharraf could now be arrested and tried in connection with the Bhutto case as well, said Chaudhry.

Musharraf was placed under house arrest over the weekend in connection with a case involving his decision to fire senior judges, including the chief justice of the Supreme Court, while in power. His arrest followed a dramatic escape from court in which he fled in a speeding vehicle to avoid detention. He was eventually placed under arrest at his heavily guarded house on the outskirts of Islamabad.

Musharraf stepped down from power in 2008 because of growing discontent with his rule, especially among the legal community because of his decision to dismiss judges. He returned last month despite the legal challenges against him, as well as death threats by the Pakistani Taliban.

Police defused a car bomb parked about 150 meters (500 feet) from Musharraf's house in Islamabad on Tuesday and are investigating how the vehicle was able to get so close to his home.

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U.S. drone strikes violate Pakistan's sovereignty: U.N.

By Louis Charbonneau

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States has violated Pakistan's sovereignty and shattered tribal structures with unmanned drone strikes in its counterterrorism operations near the Afghan border, a U.N. human rights investigator said in a statement on Friday.

U.N. special rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism, Ben Emmerson, visited Pakistan for three days this week as part of his investigation into the civilian impact of the use of drones and other forms of targeted killings.

"As a matter of international law, the U.S. drone campaign in Pakistan is ... being conducted without the consent of the elected representatives of the people, or the legitimate Government of the State," Emmerson said in a statement issued by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva.

"It involves the use of force on the territory of another state without its consent and is therefore a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty," he said.

Emmerson said in January he would investigate 25 drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan and the Palestinian territories. He is expected to present his final report to the U.N. General Assembly in October.

Washington had little to say about Emmerson's statement.

"We've seen his press release. I'm obviously not going to speak about classified information here," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said. "We have a strong ongoing counterterrorism dialogue with Pakistan and that will continue."

Spokesman Josh Earnest said the White House would withhold judgment until it sees Emmerson's full report.

"We have a solid working relationship with them (Pakistan) on a range of issues, including a close cooperative security relationship, and we're in touch with them on a regular basis on those issues."

'END MILITARY INTERFERENCE'

Emmerson said the Pashtun tribes of northwestern Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas, or FATA, Pakistan's largely lawless region bordering Afghanistan, have been decimated by the counterterrorism operations.

"These proud and independent people have been self-governing for generations, and have a rich tribal history that has been too little understood in the West," he said. "Their tribal structures have been broken down by the military campaign in FATA and by the use of drones in particular."

The tribal areas have never been fully integrated into Pakistan's administrative, economic or judicial system. They are dominated by ethnic Pashtun tribes, some of which have sheltered and supported militants over decades of conflict in neighboring Afghanistan.

Clearing out militant border sanctuaries is seen by Washington as crucial to bringing stability to Afghanistan, particularly as the U.S.-led combat mission ends in 2014.

Most, but not all, attacks with unmanned aerial vehicles have been by the United States. Britain and Israel have also used them, and dozens of other countries are believed to possess the technology.

"It is time for the international community to heed the concerns of Pakistan, and give the next democratically elected government of Pakistan the space, support and assistance it needs to deliver a lasting peace on its own territory without forcible military interference by other states," Emmerson said.

The U.N. Human Rights Council asked Emmerson to start an investigation of the drone attacks following requests by countries including Pakistan, Russia and China.

Criticism of drone strikes centers on the number of civilians killed and the fact that they are launched across sovereign states' borders so frequently, far more than conventional attacks by piloted aircraft.

Retired U.S. General Stanley McChrystal, who devised the U.S. counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan, warned in January against overusing drones, which have provoked angry demonstrations in Pakistan.

Civilian casualties from drone strikes have angered local populations and created tension between the United States and Pakistan and Afghanistan. Washington has sought to portray civilian casualties as minimal, but groups collecting data on these attacks say they have killed hundreds of civilians.

(Additional reporting by Tabassum Zakaria and Roberta Rampton in Washington; Editing by Doina Chiacu)

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