Bhutto’s Husband Is Rearrested in 1996 Murder Case

Police rearrested the husband of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on Tuesday, a month after he was freed following eight years of detention.

Asif Ali Zardari was arrested at the Islamabad airport after an anti-terrorism court in Karachi canceled bail granted him in a murder case. He is accused of conspiring to kill a High Court judge in 1996.

Zardari’s release last month on bail tied to separate corruption charges had been widely seen as a sign that President Pervez Musharraf wanted to make amends with Bhutto and her Pakistan People’s Party. Bhutto lives in exile in London and Dubai and has said she will return to Pakistan to challenge Musharraf.

Her husband’s arrest Tuesday stirred new anger among the opposition, which had been roiled by Musharraf’s recent announcement that he would renege on his pledge to resign from his position as chief of the military at year’s end. Musharraf, an army general, seized power in a 1999 coup and forced Pakistan’s two main political leaders, Bhutto and then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, into exile.

Zardari had submitted an application to defer the murder prosecution, but the court instead issued warrants for his arrest for allegedly failing to attend a hearing in the case. He was ordered to appear in court Jan. 8.

Before Zardari’s arrival, police at the Islamabad airport used batons and tear gas to disperse hundreds of angry supporters who had come to greet him.

The Pakistan People’s Party said scores of its activists were injured.

Police took Zardari back to Karachi, where he was placed under house arrest.

Zardari talked briefly with journalists at the Karachi airport and said the government was seeking to prevent him from visiting the capital, Islamabad, because authorities were afraid of his popularity.

This morning, wire services reported that bail was set at $5,000 and Zardari was expected to be released from custody.

Zardari is also accused of graft, receiving illegal commissions and kickbacks from government contracts. He was arrested in November 1996 after the government headed by his wife was dismissed over corruption charges.