LAHORE, Nov 24: National Accountability Bureau chairman Lt-Gen Munir Hafiez said on Wednesday PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari's release was neither an outcome of any deal nor was any inquiry pending against him.

He said this while talking to newsmen at a cheque distribution ceremony among cooperative affectees at the Chamba House. Answering questions, he said that inquiries were in process against some politicians, including those who belonged to the ruling party. However, he did not disclose their names.

The chairman said all such cases were based on corruption charges and there was no question of political victimization. To another query, he said that no inquiry or case was underway against former prime minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali.

Mr Hafiez said the departments concerned should take action against illegal housing schemes in the country. He said that people should verify the schemes before investing their hard-earned money in them. The NAB has also initiated awareness campaign in this regard, he said.

He expressed his dissatisfaction over the speed of trials in accountability courts. Giving details of the merger of Federal Investigation Agency's crime and anti-crime wings with the NAB, the chairman said that all vacancies of these wings had been transferred to the NAB.

However, it would take the services of only honest FIA officials. He said the process of merger would be completed soon. Commenting on the forex scam, he said that NAB was handling it carefully so that it could recover all the bad debts.

Earlier, the chairman distributed cheques worth Rs130 million among 1,559 co-operative affectees. Speaking on the occasion, he said that there was no action initiated in solving cooperative scam till 2000 when President Pervez Musharraf took special interest in this matter and gave the task to the NAB.

He said that the NAB adopted a three-pronged policy under which looted money and assets were taken from the people responsible for the fraud. The NAB had made arrangements for the transparent sale of these assets and then removed legal lacunas for transferring the money to the affectees. PCBL Chairman Farooq Maan said that all co-operative affectees would be paid off by 2005.