ATTOCK FORT, June 19: Former PPP senator Asif Ali Zardari has denied that he himself or his sister has applied for parole to visit his ailing mother.

Talking to newsmen here at the accountability court, Mr Asif said it was true that his mother was ill but, he added, he did not submit any application to seek his release on parole.

The former senator was escorted by the police from Rawalpindi to the Attock Fort to appear in an assets case pending before the accountability court. The proceedings were adjourned till June 28, as no witness appeared before the court.

By releasing such false reports, Mr Asif said, the government wanted to portray his helplessness. “I have been enduring the unjust treatment being meted out to me for the last seven years, but I will not pray for this sort of release,” he vowed.

Some of the political prisoners requested for parole, like former MNA Sher Ali who had asked for this facility on the occasion of the marriage of his son.

Referring to the changes the government is poised to introduce in the Constitution, Mr Asif said new parliament would undo all such amendments as well as the parallel legislation made under the Provisional Constitutional Order.

Commenting on the government plan to put a ban on all those aspiring to be the prime minister for a third term, Mr Asif said it was an old desire of rulers to oust Benazir Bhutto from politics. But, he added, the next parliament would scrap all bindings based on political vendetta.

He said the government had lost its credibility in every field and added that except for a handful of sycophants every political and religious party was against the official policies.

FAZLUR REHMAN: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman visited Mr Asif inside the accountability court.

Maulana Fazl told newsmen that after a turn-around on their Afghanistan and Kashmir policies, the rulers were now going to abandon the nuclear programme.

After the dismemberment of the Soviet Union, the JUI chief said, the US administration had planned to change the geography of smaller states. The US wanted to create an independent Kashmir to bring its forces to the region, he added.

About Afghanistan, Maulana Fazl said Hamid Karzai was an American national and he was working for American interests.