September 10, 2011 12:38 PM EDT
Pervez Musharraf, the military general who ruled Pakistan during the 9-11 attacks and supported the United States’ war against al-Qaeda and Taliban, has vowed to return to Pakistan and regain power even at the risk of arrest.
Musharraf, who was forced to resign the presidency in 2008 after nine years in power, told BBC he wants to return to Pakistan by March of next year.
A court in Pakistan wants to interrogate and arrest Musharraf over charges that his lax security led to the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in December 2007.
Bhutto, who returned from self-imposed exile in Dubai, was murdered during a rally for her Pakistan Peoples’ Party in the city of Rawalpindi, only two weeks before the election.
Musharraf was accused by PPP officials of not having adequate police and security presence at the rally.
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Bhutto’s husband, Asif Ali Zardari, is the current president of Pakistan.
Currently in exile in London, Musharraf has rejected the charges related to Bhutto’s death, dismissing them as politically motivated and baseless.
"If there is such politicization that the courts absolutely go berserk and they arrest me or something, which I don't think is a possibility, well let them arrest me. I'll go to jail. Let's see what happens then. I'll [still] go back," he told the BBC. "By any stretch of imagination, by any analysis of legal and constitutional issues, I am not involved [in that assassination]. So, I know this case is a hoax and we'll be able to fight it."
In August, the court ordered that authorities seize Musharraf’s assets and freeze his bank accounts, following the ex-President’s refusal to answer charges in Pakistan.
Separately, on the eve of the tenth anniversary of 9-11, Musharraf defended his choice to support the U.S. military in its offense against Islamic terrorists.
The former general claimed that Pakistan sacrificed more than an any other nation in the war against terror. He also heralded certain successes, including the capture of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind behind the 9-11 attacks.
However, he regrets that peace has not accompanied the fall of the Taliban and killing of many al-Qaeda militants on the Afghan-Pakistan border.
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