The Pakistan government said earlier Thursday it would obey an order by Islamabad's High Court to arrest Musharraf, Pakistan's interim Minister of Information Arif Nizami said.
The order is legally binding, said Nizami, who is acting as a spokesman for the government.
The government had to act within 24 hours of the high court decision or face contempt of court charges.
Local TV stations earlier showed police entering his villa compound, where Musharraf went after being quickly ushered from the court by his private security detail.
The arrest order was made at the same time the court rejected Musharraf's request for a bail extension in a case he is facing over the detention of judges in 2007.
The ruling set the stage for his arrest and has further undermined his political ambitions.
Musharraf's office called the Islamabad court's decision "unwarranted judicial activism" that was "seemingly motivated by personal vendettas," and said it would appeal against it at the Supreme Court.
But Ibrahim Satti, one of Musharraf's attorneys, told local TV reporters that they had arrived at the court too late in the day and that the Supreme Court refused to accept the appeal.
Satti said Musharraf's legal team would seek to file the appeal Friday instead, local TV stations reported.
Since Musharraf's court appearance Thursday, his spokespeople have given contradictory statements about his legal status. Musharraf remains in his Islamabad home.
Meanwhile, the Islamabad High Court issued a ruling calling the inspector general of Islamabad police to court Friday to explain why his officers did not arrest Musharraf in court Thursday as instructed.
The high court ruling asks the inspector what precise steps police took to arrest Musharraf.
The ruling also says that when Musharraf allegedly ordered the house arrest of senior judges in 2007, it was an "act of terrorism" to prevent the judges from doing their job.
Read More:CNN
Posts
