Pervez Musharraf acquitted in murder case of Baloch nationalist Akbar Bugti

Pakistan's former president General Pervez Musharraf has been acquitted in the murder case of former Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti by an anti-terrorism court in Quetta on Monday.

According to the Dawn, the court also rejected the request by Nawabzada Jamil Akbar Bugti, a son of late Bugti, to order exhumation of the body of his father to confirm that the body buried in Dera Bugti was that of his father. Former provincial home minister Mir Shoaib Nosherwani and former federal interior minister Aftab Sherpao were also acquitted by the court.

Bugti was killed in an operation in Balochistan's rugged mountains of Taratani in Kohlu district on August 26, 2006. Bugti's son Nawabzada had nominated former President Pervez Musharraf, former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, former Governor Balochistan Owais Ahmed Ghani, Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao and others in the murder of his father.

Bugti had led an armed campaign to press for provincial autonomy and a greater share of profits from Balochistan's natural resources.