NEW YORK, Jan 23: Pakistan People’s Party leader and former senator Asif Ali Zardari on Monday expressed surprise over reports published in a section of the press in Pakistan that the government had secured from Interpol “red notice” arrest warrants from him and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

Mr Zardari, who has been undergoing medical treatment here for some time, said he was ‘surprised’ and ‘amused’ by the report. He commented: “Well, we wanted go back ourselves to Pakistan, good we can go back for free”.

The US State Department refused to comment on the reports about the “red notice”.

“We have no information on the issue” a spokesman for the State Department told Dawn. And an official of the Justice Department said: “I have not seen any such notice”.

Crystal Humes, a spokesperson for the Interpol, told Dawn that she was not in a position to comment on any such red arrest notice issued by the agency. She referred the matter to the Interpol’s headquarters in France.

“Arguably Ms Bhutto and Mr Zardari could secure political asylum in the United States and in that case no such arrest warrant could be executed on American soil,” said a lawyer who deals with asylum cases.