Pakistan intends toput former military dictator Pervez Musharraf on trial oncharges of high treason, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said onMonday, in a move that shocked investors and appeared likely to anger the powerful armed forces.
The charges being considered against Musharraf relate to hisdeclaration of a state of emergency in 2007 and the suspensionof constitutional rights that followed.
In Pakistan, the maximum penalty for treason is death.
"Musharraf will have to answer for his guilt before thecourt," Sharif said in parliament.
The government "firmly subscribes to the view that theholding in abeyance of the constitution on 3rd November 2007constituted an act of high treason", he said, reading from astatement simultaneously presented to the Supreme Court.
Musharraf ousted Sharif in a coup 14 years ago, cuttingshort his second term as prime minister. Sharif was then houndedinto exile in Saudi Arabia.
Sharif's decision to move against Musharraf suggests he hasdecided to be more assertive than the last government towardsthe military, which has ruled for much of Pakistan's 66-yearhistory.
"Notwithstanding the fact that the prime minister has bornethe brunt of Musharraf's brazen coup, he wishes to assure boththis august court and the people of Pakistan that he will actaccording to the highest standards of justice and follow the dueprocess of law," Sharif read from the statement.
Pakistan's benchmark share index plunged 3 percent onconcerns about short-term political stability, and might havefallen more if the Karachi exchange had not suspended trading inmajor shares that had fallen 5 percent.
"Considering the enormity of the government decision, someinvestors feared the market could crash," said securitiesanalyst Khurram Shahzad of Arif Habib Group.
Musharraf, a key ally of president George W. Bush in theearly years of Washington's "war on terror", himself spentalmost four years in self-imposed exile. He returned to Pakistanhoping to contest elections in May, but was put under housearrest.
His detention appeared to break an unwritten rule that thetop ranks of the military are untouchable, even after they haveretired. The current army chief has suggested the military isunhappy with Musharraf's treatment.
Musharraf's spokesman called Sharif's announcement "recklessand ill conceived", saying it was designed to distract attentionfrom more pressing national issues.
"It can result in unnecessary tension amongst the variouspillars of state and possibly destabilise the country," thespokesman, Raza Bokhari, told reporters.
Accusations that Musharraf failed to provide enough securityto prevent the assassination of former prime minister BenazirBhutto in 2007 led to his house arrest. He denies wrongdoing inall the cases brought against him.
Last month's election brought Sharif back to office for anunprecedented third time and provided the first transitionbetween two civilian governments in Pakistan's turbulenthistory.