LAHORE, June 2: Supreme Court Bar Association President Aitzaz Ahsan says the New York Times has misquoted him on the issue of corruption charges against PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and slain PPP leader Benazir Bhutto.

Addressing a press conference at the Lahore Press Club on Monday, Mr Ahsan said he had asked the newspaper through a legal notice for the reason for writing that he had stated that the charges against Mr Zardari and Ms Bhutto were justified. Mr Ahsan said he had also asked the newspaper to print a clarification.

Mr Ahsan said he had only talked about the cases against Ms Bhutto and Mr Zardari to a reporter of the newspaper.

“I never said the cases against the PPP leader were justified,” Mr Ahsan said, adding that he had only talked about the cases in which he had represented Mr Zardari before a court that granted him bail.

Answering a question, Mr Ahsan said that a long march now appeared to be inevitable because the package would impede restoration of the judiciary.

He said that amending Article 6 of the Constitution, as proposed in the package, would be counter-productive. “According to Article 6, anyone who aided in the abrogation of the Constitution was also guilty,” he said.