Benazir postpones immediate return

ISLAMABAD, APRIL 16: Former Premier Benazir Bhutto has apparently postponed her immediate return to Pakistan amidst reports that the Nawa...

ISLAMABAD, APRIL 16: Former Premier Benazir Bhutto has apparently postponed her immediate return to Pakistan amidst reports that the Nawaz Sharif government is making preparations to arrest her as soon as she lands here.

The 46-year-old opposition leader has decided to 8220;stay in London for some time and won8217;t return immediately,8221; a source in Benazir8217;s Pakistan People8217;s Party PPP said here today, even as party8217;s other leaders are engaged in hectic consultations with lawyers to get a relief from the supreme court against her conviction.

The Lahore high court yesterday sentenced Benazir and her jailed husband Asif Ali Zardari to five years in jail and fined them 8.6 million after it found her guilty of taking bribe against granting of a government contract to a Swiss firm during her rule. The court also disqualified them from public office and ordered confiscation of their property.

The PPP has constituted a team of leading lawyers of the country who are busy studying the court8217;s short order againstthe couple. The appeal before the Supreme Court is expected to be filed in a day or two, sources said.

On the other hand the Accountability Bureau, headed by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif8217;s close friend Saifur Rehman, is busy in completing formalities to arrest Benazir on her return home as well as get the official announcement of disqualification of both Benazir and Zardari from their parliamentary seats by the chief election commissioner.

When asked whether arrest warrants had been issued against Benazir, Rehman said they were waiting for the detailed judgment and 8220;as soon as we get it, the arrest warrant would be issued8221;.

PPP secretary general Choudhury Ahmed Mukhtar told mediapersons that, 8220;Benazir will return to Pakistan after completing her engagements abroad8221;.

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Benazir, who left Karachi on April 5, is on a 12-day tour of the US UK, Canada and Portugal to deliver lectures and according to the original schedule, was to return this weekend.

Media reports quoting leading constitutional experts,however, claimed that Benazir cannot move to the supreme court without surrendering before the authorities.

Senior lawyer Muhammad Ilyas Siddiqui was quoted by the Nation daily that under the Supreme Court rules, a person could file an appeal from jail.