01 May 2004	Saturday	10 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

ISLAMABAD, April 30: Pakistan People's Party (PPP) has sought an apology and explanation from the military regime as to why the service of a legal notice issued by a Swiss magistrate to Asif Ali Zardari was kept secret for three weeks.

The secrecy clearly showed that there was a conspiracy to "abduct and forcibly deport" Mr Zardari which was defeated because "a sympathiser had leaked the news to the party," said a resolution passed by the Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the party in its meeting on Thursday, says a press release here on Friday.

The CEC expressed the apprehension that the military dictators wished to use the Swiss magisterial proceedings as a pretext to dump Mr Zardari in Switzerland without a passport.

The PPP demanded that Mr Zardari be unconditionally released to attend the investigation in Geneva as the magisterial inquiry into the "politically motivated" charges by the specially constituted National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had been adjourned till June.

The CEC rejected the regime's explanation of not delivering the Swiss magistrate's notice to Mr Zardari by claiming that he (Mr Zardari) was not informed because "the original notice was served through his lawyers in Geneva."

A notice was certainly given to Mr. Zardari's lawyer, Mr Lembo, but he had no means to freely contact Mr Zardari who had been in jail. "Upon learning from one of its informants in the presidency of a high level meeting between Gen Musharraf and Prime Minister Jamali of a possible abduction and forcible deportation of Zardari, his family members alerted his lawyer, Mr Lambo, to take precautionary measures by informing the magistrate that Mr Zardari was ill and unable to travel," the resolution said.

The council demanded to know whether the investigation magistrate or the Swiss government were informed about the plan to abduct Mr Zardari in violation of his human rights under the pretext to produce him for reinvestigation in a seven-year-old allegation.