Pakistani court throws out amnesty for Zardari

Pakistan's highest court yesterday struck down an amnesty that has protected President Asif Ali Zardari and some aides from corruption charges, raising the prospect of political turmoil.

The decision rejecting the 2007 amnesty introduced by former president Pervez Musharraf will heap pressure on Mr Zardari, who is seen as pro-American, even though he has presidential immunity.

The United States is keen to see Pakistan widen its battle against home-grown Taliban as part of its efforts to stabilise Afghanistan but political troubles could distract the government from the campaign.

The ruling meant that all old cases covered by the amnesty, most of them corruption cases, would be revived, chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry told the court.

Mr Zardari's ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) respected the ruling but there was no question of the President resigning, said presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar.

"The PPP has faced challenges in the past and can face challenges in future. The PPP is not worried, its leadership is not worried," he told reporters outside the court.

President Musharraf introduced the amnesty that protected about 8,000 people, including politicians and civil servants, as part of a power-sharing deal brokered with Mr Zardari's late wife, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, with US and British encouragement.

Mrs Bhutto returned to Pakistan from self-imposed exile soon after the amnesty was introduced but she was assassinated two months later while campaigning for a general election.

Instead, Mr Zardari led her party to victory in the February 2008 polls and he became President after Mr Musharraf stepped down later that year.