Watchdog claims Zardari reaped $1.7bn during Bhutto's rule

PAKISTANI President Asif Ali Zardari amassed a fortune of more than $US1.5 billion ($1.7bn) during his slain wife Benazir Bhutto's time as prime minister, the country's anti-corruption watchdog has claimed in damning evidence that further undermines his shaky leadership.

The sensational documents provided by the National Accountability Bureau to the Supreme Court this week also claim Mr Zardari was facing charges of amassing assets beyond his means, including six cases of kickbacks and misuse of power, when former president Pervez Musharraf introduced controversial amnesty legislation in 2007.

The cases included the alleged misuse of authority to grant concessions to shipping companies and a gold importing firm and to purchase tractors for a government-run scheme, involving hundreds of millions of rupees (millions of dollars) in public funds, the documents stated.

The National Reconciliation Ordinance resulted in corruption and criminal cases being dropped against 8000 Pakistani public officials and bureaucrats, including Mr Zardari.

The documents allege that Mr Zardari owned properties and bank accounts in several countries, including Britain, the US and Spain, and that in 1996 he purchased a $US4 million, 144ha estate in Surrey, England.

The NRO, brokered by the US and Britain, was intended to pave the way for Ms Bhutto to return home from self-imposed exile and seal a power-sharing agreement with Mr Musharraf.

But the former prime minister was assassinated just over two months later, leaving her unpopular husband to lead her Pakistan People's Party to victory in elections in February last year, and take the presidential palace after Mr Musharraf resigned in August.

The NRO expired two weeks ago, after parliament refused to renew the bill, leaving Mr Zardari and thousands of other officials facing renewed criminal and corruption charges.

The Supreme Court is now deliberating over whether its expiry leaves the country's leaders open to prosecution.

The court must also decide whether a presidential immunity provided by the constitution applies to cases of alleged corruption that took place before Mr Zardari took office last year.

NAB investigators say most of Mr Zardari's fortune was made during Bhutto's two terms as prime minister in the 1990s and that the money came from kickbacks and commissions on government deals.

Mr Zardari earned himself the unflattering moniker of "Mr Ten Per Cent" during his wife's time in power, because of his rumoured demands for kickbacks

But a spokesman for Mr Zardari yesterday dismissed the allegations as inaccurate and politically motivated.

Acting Attorney-General Shah Khawar claimed this week that Mr Zardari was "protected under the constitution" and the current case would have no "adverse effect" on him.

Meanwhile on Tuesday, suspected Islamist militants once again targeted the country's powerful Inter Services Intelligence spy agency, this time in the historic Sufi city of Multan, killing at least 12 people and injuring about 50.

source - The Australian