Black box recordings erased to protect Musharraf 8212; Sharif

quot;This erasing has been done just to protect the person who is responsible for unconstitutional step against the elected government, endangering the lives of passengers of flight PK-805 and harming the democratic process,quot; the paper quoted the ousted premier as telling his partymen.

Sharif8217;s 32-month-old government was dismissed in the coup led by Musharraf. He, along with six others, is facing charges of treason and attempt to hijack and murder the passengers of the plane which was initially denied permission toland at Karachi airport despite running short of fuel.

Sharif8217;s comments came after the advocate general of Sindh, Raja Qureshi, told the anti-terrorism court in Karachi, where Sharif and others are being tried, that all the recordings in the black boxes have been erased due to automated system.

Earlier, the prosecution had claimed that the recordings in the black boxes were vital pieces of corroborative evidence which would lead to the conviction of Sharif and others in the case of treason and suspected hijacking.

Sharif made a counter charge on Musharraf of endangering the lives of the passengers of the plane in line with the argument put forward by one of his lawyers, Iqbal Raad, that the Army chief Musharraf8217;s presence in the cockpit and giving direction to the pilot was against the international conventions on flight safety.

Kulsoom chides

quot;Thearmy had not carried out the October 12 action, but it was an action by a revengeful retired general who is also narrow mindedquot;, the Urdu daily Jung today quoted Kulsoom Nawaz as telling activists of her husband8217;s Pakistan Muslim League in Karachi.