September 20, 2002	Friday	Rajab 12, 1423

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ISLAMABAD, Sept 19: Pakistan People’s Party has dismissed the allegation that former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and Asif Zardari have amassed wealth in foreign countries and asked the regime to make public the assets, which it alleges have been acquired through corruption.

PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar, commenting on reports that National Accountability Bureau chairman and prosecutor-general will visit Switzerland and the United Kingdom to unearth allegedly corrupt assets of Ms Bhutto and Zardari, said such joyrides were also undertaken in the past.

“Senator Saifur Rehman and Hasan Wasim Afzal undertook several foreign junkets for the same purpose but returned empty handed,” he said.

“The example set by Senator Saif was followed by the next NAB Chairman Lt-Gen Amjad and Prosecutor-General Farooq Adam, who went on foreign visits using once again the same charade.”

“Then came Lt-Gen Khalid Maqbool as the next chairman of NAB, who too did not want to lag behind and along with his prosecutor-general undertook several foreign trips, once again using the pretext of investigating the assets of Ms Bhutto.”

“Now has come Lt-Gen Munir Hafeez, who has announced to undertake foreign trips in the name of, as always, investigating corruption of Ms Bhutto.”

“If the prosecution had any evidence of corruption and kickbacks it would not have stooped low and framed former senator Zardari in a frivolous case of evasion of customs duty of a few thousand rupees on the import of a car.”