Sindh High Court Quashes Interpol Red Notices against Benazir
'Pakistan Times' Sindh Bureau

KARACHI: Sindh High Court (SHC) Tuesday ordered the government to withdraw 'red notices' issued by Interpol at its request against former Prime Minister Ms Benazir Bhutto, her lawyer said.

The international notices were sought by the government in late 2005 after an anti-corruption court asked that they be issued to bring Bhutto back to Pakistan to face trial.

The court had moved against Bhutto in a case in which she was accused by the government of concealing her assets and providing wrong information to the election authorities.

The Interpol issued 'red notices' in January 2006 but no follow up action was taken against Ms Benazir Bhutto who has lived in exile since 1998, shuttling between London and Dubai.

Interpol said at the time the notices were not arrest warrants and member countries would decide whether to take any action.

Ms Benazir Bhutto, 54 is Chairperson of the Pakistan People's Party and led the country twice in the 1980s and 1990s. She had described the action as 'politically motivated'.

'During the hearing the allegations against her turned out to be false and the court has now quashed the Interpol warrants, Bhutto's lawyer Farooq Naik said.

The development follows a recent meeting between President Pervez Musharraf and Ms Bhutto in Abu Dhabi for a reported deal.

A senior interior ministry official in Islamabad said the government would notify Interpol of the cancellation of the red notices once it received the court's orders.●