KARACHI A Pakistani high court issued an arrest warrant for former Premier Benazir Bhutto on Monday after her failure to appear at in a case of alleged administrative corruption, court officials said. Justice Ghaous Mohammad of the Sindh High Court issued the non-bailable warrant after Bhutto, Pakistan's main opposition leader, failed to show up when he resumed the hearing, they said.

Bhutto is currently on a private trip to Canada, the United States and Britain and expected to return here this week, party sources said. The judge dismissed the application of her counsel, Reza Rabbani that Bhutto was abroad and he could not tell her the date of the case. The judge adjourned the hearing until May 19. In a similar situation last month, the same judge issued bailable warrants against Bhutto. However when she appeared in person he accepted her plea to adjourn the case until her return in early May. Bhutto's three-year old government was sacked in November 1996 on charges of corruption and misrule.

An accountability bureau, set up by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's government, has filed a case in the high court accusing Bhutto supporters of finding jobs at Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) for party members, in violation of the rules. Bhutto denies the charge which she calls an act of political victimization. Lawyers said that if Bhutto is found guilty she could be sentenced to seven years in jail.

She could also lose her seat in Parliament if convicted. The court order means Bhutto could be arrested immediately upon her landing at the airport, they said. Bhutto counsel Rabbani said he would move a petition seeking a court order to the authorities not to detain Bhutto on her return to Pakistan. (AFP)