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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Benazir Bhutto's husband gets bail, 'release imminent' |
| 2004-11-23 |
| Sounds like a deal might have finally been made between the Pakistan People's Party and the Musharraf regime. It should have happened years ago. Pakistan's Supreme Court yesterday granted bail to the jailed husband of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, paving the way for his release, a lawyer and a government spokesman said. Lawyer Farooq Naek said Asif Ali Zardari, who has been jailed since 1996, has now been granted bail in all the corruption cases against him. He said that once the surety of 1 million rupees ($21,575) had been submitted, Zadari would be freed unless state prosecutors filed a new case against him. Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said "the government will respect the Supreme Court decision and Asif Zardari will be freed when they deposit surety bonds." He expected that legal procedure to be complete in "one or two days." "We will welcome his release. This will be good for political harmony," Ahmed said. Bhutto was twice prime minister of Pakistan, but her governments were dismissed in both 1990 and 1996 for alleged corruption. She lives in exile but still heads the Pakistan People's Party, one of the country's main opposition groups. In September, a court overturned Zardari's conviction for receiving kickbacks from the state-run Pakistan Steel Mills in 1995, during his wife's tenure, for which he was sentenced for seven years. However, he has remained in custody awaiting trial on at least nine other corruption and criminal cases, all registered against him since 1996. Bhutto's party contends that the cases are politically motivated. Notice that the husband of a former Prime Minister can remain in prison without trial for 8 years, and yet the Jihadi emirs never stay under arrest for more than a few months at a time. If Zardari were released, it could improve rancorous relations between the government of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and Bhutto's party. On Friday, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz offered to hold talks on key national issues with opposition groups - which are planning to stage street rallies in the weeks ahead to protest Musharraf's apparent intention to backtrack on a promise to stand down as army chief by the year's end and rule as a civilian. Sen. Farhatullah Babar, spokesman for Bhutto's party, accused the government and the state National Accountability Bureau, which investigates allegations of corruption against officials, of persecuting Zadari. "Asif Zardari has been vindicated, truth has triumphed. The rulers have been exposed. The myth of accountability exploded," he said. "Those who kept Asif Zardari in illegal confinement for more than eight years and those in the NAB who have been using accountability for political ends, must today hang their heads in shame." Actually, the level of curruption from Zadari was so renowned that he was widely known as "Mr 10%" for the cut that he would demand from his 'business partners'. And yet the PPP is the most moderate mainsteam party in Pakistan, and it's leader seems to be very loyal to her husband, so this release is probably necessary for the completion of any deal with the military. |
| Posted by:Paul Moloney |
| #1 I do not think it is good idea to give up on Musharraf just yet. Over the past 3 years, he has been very helpful to us on the war on terror. I say give him at least 4 more years and then dump him for another puppet. |
| Posted by: Mark 2004-11-23 5:59:42 AM |