LAHORE, June 12: Mr Asif Zardari, jailed husband of PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto, has said that he will not leave the country even if he is awarded bail or acquitted of all charges in the 15 cases against him.

"I shall remain in the country and in politics even if the court releases me," said Mr Zardari, who has been behind bars for the last eight years.

That was the real dispute (between the government and the PPP), he told Dawn at Lahore airport here on Saturday.

He was responding to a question as to whether he would leave abroad or not if acquitted by the court. He had recently turned down a government offer to go to Switzerland for investigation into a money-laundering case against him.

The Supreme Court, hearing the bail plea of the PPP leader, directed the Lahore High Court a couple of days ago to announce its verdict in a NAB reference within 15 days, observing that the accused had already served eight years in prison, the maximum jail term that could be handed down in the case.

Immediately after his landing here, a heavily armed police contingent took Mr Zardari to the Kot Lakhpat Jail where he was to appear in court in a narcotics case.

PPP leaders Munir Ahmad Khan, Mushtaq Awan and Azizur Rahman Chan were also present.

Asked if he would sue the people responsible for keeping him imprisoned so long under various charges after his release, Zardari said no. "I shall forgive them, leaving my case up to the Almighty Allah."

Answering a question regarding the ongoing terrorism wave in Karachi, he said it was primarily due to the weak political structure.

Whenever the political structure of a country would weaken, other problematic structures started taking roots, he said.

Mr Zardari suggested a fresh general election and resignation of Gen Musharraf to address this issue.

He renewed PPP's offer of a safe exit to Musharraf.

When asked to elaborate on the exit plan, he said the General would not be tried under Article 6, which prescribes death penalty for the perpetrator of the army takeover.

"We did not try army generals even in the Dhaka Fall case."

About the Wana operation, he said: "No decision should be taken in haste. Experts on tribal traditions and tribesmen's psychology should be consulted to avoid bloodshed in the tribal area."