26 November 2004	Friday	13 Shawwal 1425

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LAHORE, Nov 25: NAB chairman Lt-Gen Munir Hafiez said here on Thursday that Asif Zardari's detention was not without any justification but bail was everyone's right.

He was replying to newsmen's questions after the inaugural session of the three-day conference on 'Combating terrorism in South Asia' here at a local hotel.

Gen Hafiez said cases against Mr Zardari were being pursued in courts. "We investigate corruption cases and then take them to courts for trial according to the provisions of the laws on accountability. Ask others whose duty is to handle the remaining part of such cases," he added.

He said the NAB could not function alone. It required combined efforts of all institutions concerned and "if some of them do not fulfil their responsibilities, the work will be affected."

He asked a questioner to contact the Sindh chief minister when his attention was drawn to a recent statement by him (the chief minister) about the release of Mr Zardari. "I am not a politician," he said.

The NAB chairman said the body was not conducting any investigations against former prime minister Shujaat Husain. "It is a wrong impression that the NAB had been intimidating people for forcing them to join the government," he claimed.

He denied that he had ever asked the president to remove the ministers who faced NAB cases because their presence was undermining the credibility of the NAB. "I have suggested him measures needed to be adopted for improving the credibility of the body," he said.

Gen Hafiez also dispelled the impression that the NAB had achieved its objectives. The war against corruption would continue and those who believed that the work could be over in two or three years were wrong. "The process would continue," he concluded.