ISLAMABAD, June 30: Pakistan People's Party (PPP) spokesman Senator Farhatullah Khan Babar has denied that PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto has been indicted by the Swiss inquiry magistrate on charges of corruption in award of the pre-shipment inspection contract to the Swiss firm SGS in 1994.

Talking to Dawn here on Wednesday, Mr Babar said the Swiss inquiry magistrate was not even authorized legally to indict a person. "It is absolutely wrong to claim that Ms Bhutto has been indicted. It is a part of the vicious and malicious propaganda of National Accountability Bureau, which is a political arm of the military regime," he added.

Mr Babar said Ms Bhutto appeared before the Swiss inquiry magistrate in Geneva to record her statement in the allegations against her in the award of pre-shipment inspection contract to the SGS in 1994 and "vehemently denied any wrongdoing, corruption or malpractice in the award of the contract when she was the prime minister."

Dismissing the allegations of the Pakistan government as politically-motivated and not based on facts, Ms Bhutto said she was disappointed that her political opponents in Pakistan were using the Swiss judicial system to settle political scores against her.

Ms Bhutto said she was keen to assist the inquiry magistrate and would appear personally and also call witnesses so as to knock the bottom out of the "false" case and to clear her name, Mr Babar said.

The PPP senator said Ms Bhutto had told the inquiry magistrate that she would be available for assistance in the inquiry and was waiting for a decision on her appeal to keep the government of Pakistan out of it.

The government of Pakistan is no longer an injured party as it has reached an out of court settlement with the Swiss firm which it has accused of corruption and, therefore, has no right to be made a party into the inquiry, Ms Bhutto told the magistrate.

Defence lawyers Mr Lambo, Farooq Naek and K.K. Agha were present on the occasion besides political secretary to the chairperson MNA Naheed Khan. According to Mr Babar, no new date has been fixed for further inquiry. NAB Chairman Lt-Gen Munir Hafeez is also reportedly present in Geneva, the PPP senator claimed.