NEW DELHI, August 20 (RAPSI) - A special Anti-Terrorism Court in Pakistan charged former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf with the 2007 murder of deceased prime minister Benazir Bhutto, the local media reports.

If found guilty Musharraf faces life imprisonment.

Bhutto was assassinated in a bombing during a pre-election rally in Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007. The charges against Musharraf are based on the testimony of the city's former chief of police, who told the investigators that Bhutto's guards had been called off duty on Musharraf's orders.

Along with the murder of Bhutto, Musharraf has been charged with the illegal arrests of Supreme Court judges during a state of emergency in 2007, as well as with the murder of Baloch Tribe nationalist leader Akbar Khan Bugti.

Musharraf spearheaded the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s ouster in an effort to bring law, order, and democracy to Pakistan. He made powerful enemies, however, when after the 9/11 terror attacks in the US he joined forces with the US in its “War on Terror.” This provoked enormous tensions with Islamic militants within Pakistan. In July 2007, he ordered security forces to storm the Red Mosque in Islamabad, based on its allegedly increasing efforts to enforce strict Sharia Law in the capital city. The operation resulted in upwards of 100 casualties.

Musharraf was reelected in 2008, but was forced to resign shortly thereafter amidst allegations of impropriety over the state of emergency scandal and other charges. He soon fled the country to London. However, he returned in late March for the first time since his resignation despite death threats from the Taliban, giving rise to the present proceedings.