November 18, 2002	Monday	Ramazan 12, 1423

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ISLAMABAD, Nov 17: An American law firm has asked the Pakistan government to pay it Rs250 million which it recovered from the corrupt bureaucrats and politicians, a demand which the government has spurned.

The dispute is likely to turn into a legal battle between a foreign company and Pakistan, putting strain on the public purse in the form of legal fees and other expenses incurred on litigation.

An official source told Dawn that the National Accountability Bureau had entered into an agreement with an American law firm, Broadsheet, for its services for recovering the plundered national wealth stashed away in the banks of United States and other countries.

The NAB had agreed to pay 20 per cent of the amount recovered through the assistance of the contracted company.

Under the contract, the government of Pakistan was required to hand over a list of its “targets” to the company. The targets included Admiral Mansur-ul-Haq in whose extradition the contracted law firm had played an important role.

The government paid 20 per cent of the money it received from Mansur-ul-Haq to the law firm, after the admiral reached a plea bargain with the authorities.

The dispute, however, arose when the NAB arrested some of the bureaucrats, politicians and their accomplices from Pakistan, who were also on the list of targets provided to the company.

The company was now demanding 20 per cent share from the amount the NAB recovered from those bureaucrats and politicians whose list had also been provided to it.

The NAB, the sources said, was arguing that it was not liable to pay anything to the American firm, as the list of target was only valid outside Pakistan and not in the country.

The role of the company was appreciated in the arrest of Mansur-ul-Haq and his extradition to Pakistan, and the company was promptly paid the agreed share of the money the NAB received from the ex-Navy chief.