ISLAMABAD, March 20: A local lawyer is seeking damages of $200 million from a foreign publishing house — Simon & Schuster UK Ltd — and four other respondents, including PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, for attributing “false and baseless” mention of militant Qari Saifullah Akhtar in a recently published book by Benazir Bhutto — “Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy and the West”.

“I have registered the libel suit against five respondents through registered air mail and therefore should be considered as served upon them,” Advocate Hashmat Habib told Dawn. He said he had moved the suit under Section 8 of Defamation Ordinance 2002 on behalf of his client Qari Saifullah Akhtar.

M/s Simon & Schuster UK Ltd, M/s Mackays of Chatham Ltd, Mr Zardari, proprietor Mr Books Super Market Islamabad and ARY Shopping Channel have been named as respondents in the libel warranting them to halt the distribution and sale of publication forthwith.

They are also required to collect the unsold copies of the book from all points of sale throughout the world and delete paragraphs mentioning the name of Qari Saifullah on pages 221 and 222 before further sale or its re-publication.

The notice claimed that Qari Saifullah was never wanted or tried for attempting to overthrow Benazir Bhutto’s second government. It said that Qari Saifullah went to Dubai in 2002 to earn livelihood but was arrested in July 2004 and later on August 7, 2004, at the behest of the government. He was brought to Pakistan and handed over to agencies for interrogation.

The notice claimed that he was with agencies in an underground cell till May 19, 2007, but was released with the instruction not to narrate his suffering to anyone when his petition was taken up by the Supreme Court.

Qari Saifullah was arrested last month in connection with investigations into the bomb blasts in Ms Bhutto’s homecoming rally on Oct 18, 2007.

He has not been formally charged but is under 12-day judicial remand and his case is pending with an anti-terrorism court in Karachi.