[Dawn] Farahnaz Ispahani Spokesperson of President Asif Ali Zardari has said that President Zardari does not own any sugar mills in the country."No more than Ten Percent, anyway..."
Responding to reports in the media that quote a National Accountability Bureau report on the sugar crisis in 2006, Farahnaz Ispahani completely rejected the impression created by the media.
While responding to these reports she said that President Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari do not own any sugar mills in the country. Years of investigation by the accountability machines of Nawaz Sharif and General Musharraf could not find any links between Zardari and any sugar mills, said the spokesperson. 'It is very interesting that a preliminary report prepared with no proper inquiry or investigation in the year 2006 by NAB has been given so much credence now.' The facts stand out that this report was prepared on the basis of newspaper clippings and no first hand report of NAB officials was part of the preliminary report.
She also pointed out that in the year 2006 Asif Ali Zardari was being persecuted by the Musharraf regime and all his assets were seized and frozen. Under those circumstances it is ironic that NAB concluded that mills allegedly owned by Zardari were responsible for the sugar crisis.
Farahnaz Ispahani said that some lobbies continue to try and malign the elected leadership of the country. 'These are the very people who have always benefited from the military dictatorships and are present in different sections of the society and keep twisting facts to suit their agendas'.