ISLAMABAD, April 6: A large number of supporters, activists and well-wishers of the People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) have been felicitating party chairperson Benazir Bhutto for the past three days through telephone calls and emails on reports of withdrawal of cases against her by National Accountability Bureau (NAB), prompting a party’s spokesman to issue a statement that the reports were untrue and part of regime’s disinformation campaign.

Talking to Dawn on Friday, PPP spokesman Farhatullah Khan Babar said he was surprised to receive a large number of emails and telephone calls from different parts of the country and even from abroad to congratulate Ms Bhutto.

Mr Babar said the PPP thanked all its supporters and well wishers who rang up to congratulate it on the withdrawal of cases against the PPP leadership but regretted to inform them that the news was false and part of the disinformation campaign launched by the regime.

In his statement, Mr Babar said the PPP had long held the view that national resources were being squandered on the pursuit of a witch-hunt against the party leadership for more than a decade while the poverty graph increased in the country.

However, he said, anti-PPP forces continued with their political agenda with a view to support the extremist forces by undermining the forces of democracy.

He said the witch-hunt against the PPP was to divert public attention from the rampant corruption in the country for which the party had filed several references and the Supreme Court had also ruled in the case of the Pakistan Steel Mills’ privatization.