In the complaint lodged at a police station in Rawalpindi, near the capital, Bhutto is accused of ordering police to fire on a protest by members of the Islamic Jamaat-i-Islami Party in June 1996. The murder case was lodged by the leader of Jamaat-i-Islami, Maulana Abdul Jalil.

"We have named Bhutto and five others including her interior minister, Naseerullah Babar, in the First Information Report filed with the police as the murder of our workers was the result of a conspiracy hatched by them," he said.

The Jaamat-i-Islami (JI) originally tried to register the case after the incident but police refused. Earlier this month the Supreme Court ordered the case should be registered.

Under Pakistani law, registering a case is the first step in the investigation.

A spokesman for Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party said it was an attempt to harass their leader. "The JI bid against Bhutto is politically motivated," Farhatullah Babar said. "The allegation is baseless, without evidence, and is being flaunted as an instrument of harassment. However, Benazir Bhutto will not be harassed."

Bhutto was dismissed by the president in November 1996 on charges of corruption and misrule and is now living in London.

Bhutto was convicted on corruption charges in absentia in April by a Pakistan court. She decided to stay abroad until a decision on her appeal, which is pending in the country's Supreme Court.

The police investigation is likely to run for several months before any arrests are made, lawyers said.

The Lahore High Court earlier this year accepted a plea from Jaamat-i-Islami that the case should be registered. The Supreme Court then upheld the decision on December 9.

The case against Bhutto comes as her successor, Nawaz Sharif, prime minister until his overthrow in a military coup in October, is under arrest and faces trial in a treason case, which has been adjourned until Monday.

Sharif has been accused along with six officials on several counts including hijacking and murder conspiracy. The case is up for trial at an anti-terrorism court in Karachi.

Sharif and Bhutto have dominated Pakistan's political stage this decade but both ran into trouble and found their tenures marred by corruption scandals and allegations of bad governance.

The Jamaat-i-Islami, which supported Sharif's ouster, has staked its claim to provide the country with alternative leadership.

But it is still uncertain when Pakistan's military ruler General Pervez Musharraf will allow elections to be held.

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