Court drops corruption cases against Bhutto widower

ISLAMABAD – A court yesterday quashed corruption cases against the husband of slain former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, a lawyer said, a move that could ease tensions between Pakistan’s United States-allied president and the winning party in last month’s elections.

The anti-corruption court in Rawalpindi ordered government prosecutors to terminate five cases against Asif Ali Zardari under an ordinance promulgated by President Pervez Musharraf last year, said Farooq Naek, Zardari’s attorney. “He has been acquitted” in those cases, Naek said in a telephone interview.He said he was optimistic that another judge would terminate the last two outstanding cases against Zardari at another hearing later this month, he said.Prosecutors could not immediately be reached for comment.Zardari acquired the nickname Mr Ten Percent for allegedly pocketing kickbacks while serving as a minister in his wife’s second government during the 1990s.An alleged money-laundering case is still pending against Zardari in Switzerland.Musharraf passed the National Reconciliation Ordinance last year instructing courts to dismiss corruption cases against politicians and bureaucrats dating from before he seized power in a 1999 coup.The move paved the way for Bhutto’s return from exile before she was slain in a December suicide attack.The allegations against Zardari dropped yesterday include illegal payments relating to the purchase of tractors and the construction of a polo ground inside the prime minister’s residence.Zardari spent years in jail without being convicted and insists the charges were politically motivated.Nampa-AP”He has been acquitted” in those cases, Naek said in a telephone interview.He said he was optimistic that another judge would terminate the last two outstanding cases against Zardari at another hearing later this month, he said.Prosecutors could not immediately be reached for comment.Zardari acquired the nickname Mr Ten Percent for allegedly pocketing kickbacks while serving as a minister in his wife’s second government during the 1990s.An alleged money-laundering case is still pending against Zardari in Switzerland.Musharraf passed the National Reconciliation Ordinance last year instructing courts to dismiss corruption cases against politicians and bureaucrats dating from before he seized power in a 1999 coup.The move paved the way for Bhutto’s return from exile before she was slain in a December suicide attack.The allegations against Zardari dropped yesterday include illegal payments relating to the purchase of tractors and the construction of a polo ground inside the prime minister’s residence.Zardari spent years in jail without being convicted and insists the charges were politically motivated.Nampa-AP