17 July 2004	Saturday	28 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

ISLAMABAD, July 16: The Rockwood Estate, known as Surrey Palace in Britain and allegedly owned by PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto and Asif Zardari, was sold on Friday for over 4.3 million pounds sterling, a Pakistan government spokesman said.

The spokesman said in a statement the sale was effected by a liquidator of a number of Isle of Man Trust companies created to disguise the true identity of the beneficial owners of the property.

He said the liquidator was acting with the authority of the Pakistani government which, according to him, claimed the net proceeds of sale on behalf of the people of Pakistan. The statement said the claim was accepted by the liquidator.

"It is widely believed that the true owners of the Rockwood Estate, popularly known as the Surrey Palace, were former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and her husband Asif Ali Zardari," the spokesman said.

But a PPP spokesman rejected the charge about Ms Bhutto owning the property. The government spokesman said the purchaser of the property was a local businessman, who already owned an adjoining property.

The sale of the property has a long and tortuous history which may not yet be over. Proceedings are due to take place shortly in the Isle of Man when the liquidator will seek the sanction of the high court there to release the proceeds of sale to the Pakistan government.

The spokesman said the acceptance of the government's claim and the sale of the estate was a tribute to the tenacity and unceasing efforts to recover the nation's looted wealth.

PPP spokesman Senator Farhatullah Khan Babar, in a statement, said: "Neither the property belonged to Ms Bhutto nor she was concerned as to who sold it to whom and for what purpose."