Hasty exit for Musharraf after judge revokes his bail

In his latest setback since returning from exile, Pervez Musharraf, the former military ruler of Pakistan, suddenly left a courtroom in dramatic fashion on Thursday after a judge revoked his bail and ordered his arrest.

Pervez Musharraf, the former president of Pakistan, leaving the High Court in Islamabad on Thursday after his bail was revoked.

 Mr. Musharraf and his security detail hustled through a large crowd outside the Islamabad High Court following the hearing, then quickly drove off in a convoy of sport-utility vehicles as angry lawyers chased behind, shouting insults.

The hasty exit, unimaginable just a few years ago, was the latest twist in Mr. Musharraf ’s quixotic bid to return to Pakistani politics, which has been dogged by a series of mishaps and humiliations.
It could also presage a wider clash. Never before has a retired army chief faced imprisonment in Pakistan, and analysts said the move against Mr. Musharraf could open a new rift between the courts and the military.
After leaving the court, Mr. Musharraf drove to his luxury villa on the outskirts of the capital, which is protected by high walls and a contingent of retired and serving soldiers — a reflection of repeated Taliban threats to kill him.
For now, however, the imminent danger to Mr. Musharraf, a general who ruled Pakistan between 1999 and 2008, stems from the courts.

At the hearing Thursday, a High Court justice, Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, declined to extend Mr. Musharraf ’s bail in a case that focuses on his decision to fire and imprison the country’s top judges when he imposed emergency rule in November 2007.
Resentment toward the former army chief and president still runs deep in the judiciary, which was at the center of the protest movement that led to his ouster in 2008. On Thursday evening, the court demanded to know why the police had failed to arrest Mr. Musharraf as he left the court, Pakistani television stations reported.

A spokesman for Mr. Musharraf ’s party described the court order as ‘‘seemingly motivated by personal vendettas,’’ and hinted at the possibility of a looming clash with the military, warning that it could ‘‘result in unnecessary tension amongst the various pillars of state and possibly destabilize the country.’’
At a news conference in Islamabad on Thursday evening, leaders of Mr. Musharraf ’s party denied that he had fled from the courtroom.

‘‘No attempt was made to arrest Mr. Musharraf,’’ said Muhammad Amjad Chaudhry, a senior party leader. ‘‘No police officer asked Mr. Musharraf to surrender after the court order was passed. Mr. Musharraf returned to his residence from the court. He is not in hiding.’’

Mr. Musharraf ’s lawyers lodged an appeal with the Pakistani Supreme Court, which said it would hear the case on Friday. One widely touted possibility is that the Supreme Court could declare Mr. Musharraf ’s villa a ‘‘sub-jail,’’ and place him under house arrest.
The court drama marks the low point of a troubled homecoming for the swaggering former general, who has vowed to ‘‘take the country out of darkness’’ after returning from four years of selfimposed exile in Dubai, London and the United States.

But instead of the public adulation he apparently was expecting, Mr. Musharraf has been greeted by stiff legal challenges, political hostility and — perhaps worst of all — a widespread sense of public apathy.
Influential Pakistani television channels have given scant coverage to Mr. Musharraf since his return, and his party has had difficulty finding strong candidates to field in the general election scheduled for May 11.
Mr. Musharraf had hoped to run for Parliament, for which his All Pakistan Muslim League party said it would field candidates across Pakistan.
On Tuesday, the national election commission disqualified Mr. Musharraf from the contest. He had intended to seek election in four different constituencies.

Mr. Musharraf is facing criminal charges in three cases — one related to the sacking of the judges, and two others related to the deaths of Benazir Bhutto, a former prime minister, and Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, a Baluch tribal leader. Attempts by some opponents to have him charged with treason have not succeeded.
Then last week he stoked controversy in an interview with CNN when he admitted to having authorized U.S. drone strikes in the Pakistani tribal region — a statement that contradicted years of denials of complicity in the drone program, and which was considered politically disastrous in a country where the drones are widely despised.

In returning to Pakistan in such an apparently ill-considered manner, Mr. Musharraf has placed himself at the mercy of some of his most bitter enemies. The favorite to win the coming election is Nawaz Sharif, the onetime prime minister whom Mr. Musharraf overthrew to seize power in 1999.