Pakistan PM asks Swiss to reopen corruption cases against Zardari

The move seems to be aimed at a November 14 deadline the Pakistani Supreme Court had given new Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf to reopen corruption cases against President Zardari.

Ashraf had to indicate by then whether he will obey an order to ask Swiss authorities to reopen multi-million dollar corruption cases against the president.

The allegations against Zardari date back to the 1990s. He and his wife, slain Premier Benazir Bhutto, were suspected of using Swiss bank accounts to launder millions of dollars paid in bribes by companies seeking customs inspection contracts.

Ashraf, former information and technology minister and a close ally of president Zardari, was elected by the National Assembly of Pakistan to replace Yousuf Raza Gilani on June 22.

His predecessor, Gilani, was dismissed on June 19 for refusing to do so.

    Switzerland suspended the cases in 2008 when Zardari became president, but in 2009 Pakistan’s Supreme Court overturned a political amnesty that had frozen investigations, ruling that the cases be reopened.


The corruption cases against Zardari date back to the 1990s, when he and his late wife, former premier Benazir Bhutto, are suspected of using Swiss bank accounts to launder 12 million dollars allegedly paid in bribes.

Gilani’s government had argued that Zardari, who rejects the corruption charges, enjoys immunity as the country's president and refused to follow the court order.

The developments spelled a fresh political turmoil and the clash of institutions in Pakistan just months ahead of the widely-expected general elections.