Pakistan to Press Swiss Case Against Zardari

Swiss charges against Bhutto ended with her death.

Pakistan will pursue the widower of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto for 60 million Swiss francs ($54 million) it says the couple hid illegally in Switzerland, its lawyer said on Tuesday.

A hearing is expected to be held in Geneva in late January in the long-running money-laundering case, begun in 1997 against Bhutto and her husband Asif Ali Zardari, according to Jacques Python, Pakistan's lawyer in the Swiss city.

Zardari, now de facto leader of the Pakistan People's Party, is carrying the Bhutto dynasty's torch after the former prime minister was killed in a gun and bomb attack on Dec. 27 as she left an election rally. Elections have been put off to Feb. 18.

"We remain a civil party in the (criminal) procedure against Mr. Zardari," Python told Reuters. "To our knowledge, 60 million Swiss francs remain frozen in connection with the case."
The amount is four times the $13 million previously referred to as being blocked in connection with alleged kickbacks from Swiss cargo inspection companies. Geneva judicial officials were not available to comment.

"She (Bhutto) appears little in the bank documents. On the other hand, Zardari's name appears as the beneficial owner of most of the accounts that are frozen," Python said.

"The time has come to look at the technical issues so that the frozen funds can be returned to Pakistan."

The couple always denied the charges and Bhutto came to Geneva several times to testify that the case was politically motivated. They were convicted in 2003 of laundering funds worth $13 million and ordered to return that sum to Pakistan.

But the verdict was thrown out on appeal, sparking a fresh probe by a Geneva judge, whose confidential findings last year were contested by lawyers for both Bhutto and Zardari.

The forthcoming hearing in Geneva will decide whether the case returns to the judge for more work or goes to chief prosecutor Daniel Zappelli who can drop it or order a trial.
Swiss charges against Bhutto ended with her death.

"She always affirmed that the accounts were not hers and she did not have any access to them," her former Swiss lawyer Alec Reymond said on Tuesday.

DENIES CHARGES

Saverio Lembo, Zardari's lawyer in Geneva, reaffirmed on Tuesday that his client denied the money-laundering charges.

"We requested that the case be sent back to the judge for more investigation, including calling other witnesses," Lembo told Reuters. "My client has never been heard in this case."

Asked whether Zardari might come to Geneva to try to clear his name, he said that his client's health was "very fragile" after 8 years in jail in Pakistan and heart surgery.

President Pervez Musharraf signed an amnesty last October to prepare the way for a power-sharing accord with Bhutto by erasing graft charges against her and Zardari in Pakistan. Pakistan's Supreme Court has yet to rule on the amnesty.

"Corruption cases against Mrs Bhutto and my client have been dropped. No crime has been established in Pakistan," Lembo said. "That makes it difficult to pursue (a case) in Switzerland."

Reuters

Baitullah Denies Hand in Benazir's Assassination

By Mushtaq Yusufzai and Javed Afridi PESHAWAR, Pakistan, 30 December 2007 (The News) -

Commander Baitullah Mehsud, accused of masterminding the attack that killed former PrimeMinister and PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto in Rawalpindi, has rejected the allegations as baseless.

"We are equally grieved by the tragic death of Benazir Bhutto andextend our sympathies to her family and party workers in this hour ofgrief," said Mr. Omar, a spokesman for Baitullah Mehsud and hisTehreek-e-Pakistan [Pakistan Movement], a conglomerate of all the [Pashtun] organisations operating in tribal areas as well as thesettled districts of the NWFP.

Baitullah Mehsud, Ameer or central leader of the recently-formedTehreek-e-Pakistan, was accused by the Interior Ministry SpokesmanBrig. (retd.) Javed Iqbal Cheema of sending the bomber near thevehicle of Benazir Bhutto outside the Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi. Mr. Omar, who made a call to The News from an undisclosed location, onSaturday said Baitullah Mehsud, while sensing the gravity of theallegations levelled against him, convened an emergency meeting ofTehreek-e-Pakistan [Council] comprising senior commanders at a secretplace somewhere between South and North Waziristan tribal region toclarify his position.

"Why on earth would we kill her [Benazir Bhutto]? We had no enmity with her and more importantly she had done no wrong to us," Mr. Omarsaid while quoting Baitullah Mehsud as telling the [Council] meeting. He said that it was against the teachings of Islam and Shariah, aswell as the centuries old rich traditions of the tribal people, not toharm a woman and added that the [illegal Pervez Musharraf] government allegations against the commander were part of face-saving moves ithad resorted to ever since the incident took place.

"By blaming us for the murder of an important political leader likeBenazir Bhutto, the government is in fact misguiding the world.Planning such actions is simply beyond our imagination," he claimed. "We want to assure the Pakistan People's Party [PPP] leaders and itsworkers that we can't even think of killing their leader. We are withthem in this hour of grief and sorrow," claimed the spokesman.

He alleged that the [unlawful Musharraf] government was attempting toportray the tribal areas as centers of "terrorists" so as to earndollars from, what he termed as, Western masters. "This is why theykeep the tribal belt in continuous grip of violence." Accusing the [Pakistan Army's] secret agencies for the crime, he saidthe modus operandi and precision of the strike revealed that thegruesome act was committed by professional hands.

It may be recalled here that Baitullah Mehsud was also [maliciouslyand illegally] accused of threatening Benazir Bhutto with "suicideattacks" - [by the Musharraf government-controlled Daily Times of Najam Sethi and Salman Taseer(Publisher and Minister for Industries, Production and SpecialInitiatives in the unlawful Caretaker Cabinet of Tyrant Musharraf and Prime Minister Mohammedmian Soomro)] upon her arrival in[Karachi] Pakistan [on 18 October 2007] - that he later denied.

The commander at that time said he had never thought of such an attackas he knew that it would kill innocent people. Mr. Omar said they had time and again disowned the statementattributed to Baitullah Mehsud regarding the "suicide attacks" on Benazir Bhutto upon her return from abroad, but lamented that certainpeople conveniently ignored the same to promote their interests.