Court issues Arrest Warrant for Pakistan's ex-PM Benazir Bhutto
'Pakistan Times' Federal Bureau

ISLAMABAD: A court issued arrest warrants on Saturday for ex-Prime Minister Ms Benazir Bhutto and her spouse for submitting false statements of assets to the country’s elections body, her lawyer said.

Although courts have previously issued such warrants for Benazir Bhutto and her husband Asif Ali Zardari, the latest one comes a day after she met with her longtime political rival, former Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif in Dubai.

Benazir Bhutto, who twice was prime minister of Pakistan in the 1980s and 1990s has been living in self-imposed exile in the United Arab Emirates since 1999.

The government has said Benazir Bhutto and her husband concealed some of their foreign property and bank accounts while submitting statements of assets to the Election Commission after contesting the 1996 elections.

Under Pakistani law, lawmakers are bound to declare their assets to the Commission and those found guilty of improperly declaring assets can be disqualified.

However, Bhutto’s lawyer Babar Awan said; "the warrants were politically motivated and aimed at pressuring Bhutto, who wants to contest the 2007 elections."

He said the arrest warrant orders Bhutto and Zardari to appear before a court near Islamabad on July-2.

It was not immediately clear whether the authorities would seek any help from the United Arab Emirates to bring back Bhutto who is to travel to London in July for another round of talks with Sharif and his party leaders.

Through the Interpol

Another report says that an Islamabad court Saturday issued arrest warrants of the former Prime Minister and People’s Party chairperson Benazir Bhutto and her spouse Asif Ali Zardari and directed the Ministry of Interior to present them in the court on July 3 after their arrest through the Interpol.

National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed two separate applications in District and Sessions Court Islamabad against Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari under the charges of submitting false statements in the election commission.

District and Sessions Judge Islamabad Mirza Rafi-uz-Zaman issued summons to Benazir and Zardari to appear before the court on June 3 but no one appeared before the court on behalf of Benazir and Asif Zardari.

Special Prosecutor NAB Abdul Baseer Qureshi told the court that Benazir and Zardari were declared proclaimed offenders for not appearing before the accountability courts in cases against them and the Interpol has issued red notices to them.

District Judge Mirza Rafi-uz-Zaman issued arrest warrants of Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari and directed the Ministry of Interior to present them in the court on July 3 after their arrest through the Interpol.●