05 January 2004	Monday	12 Ziqa'ad 1424

ISLAMABAD, Jan 4: Former chief justice Sheikh Riaz Ahmad on Sunday said the news about his appointment as chairman of the National Accountability Bureau was baseless, as no such development had taken place.

Talking to Dawn, Sheikh Riaz Ahmad said that the Urdu and English-language press had printed a news item that he was being appointed as NAB chairman, and in this connection his consent had been sought. "This is baseless. No such development has taken place".

The former CJ said the remarks of the Supreme Court Bar Association President Tariq Mehmood about him, as reported in Dawn on Saturday, were malicious and designed to defame him. He said the SCBA president was playing into the hands of those who were inimically disposed towards him.

- Dawn feels that the remarks were unfortunate, and the paper wishes to make it clear that it does not necessarily subscribe to the views expressed by those it reports in its news columns.-Ed.D.