Britain hands over Bhutto bank details

Bhutto and her husband may face a retrial

By Zaffar Abbas in Islamabad

The military authorities in Pakistan say the United Kingdom has handed over thousands of documents relating to foreign bank accounts held by former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, and her husband, Asif Zardari.

A government spokesman said the documents were released after a court in Britain ruled against Mr Zardari's request for confidentiality.

If what the authorities are saying about these bank documents is true, then there might be more trouble for Ms Bhutto in the coming days

The Pakistani authorities are investigating Ms Bhutto and Mr Zardari over a number of cases of alleged corruption involving tens of millions of dollars.

Last week, the Pakistani supreme court set aside Miss Bhutto's 1999 conviction on corruption charges.

Bank documents

The Pakistani authorities had been after these bank documents for quite some time.

Officials here said a UK court turned down Mr Zardari's request for privacy after a series of legal battles, and released 22,000 documents to the Pakistani Government.

A spokesman for the government's national accountability bureau said these documents were handed over through the British High Commission in Islamabad.

The spokesman said the documents contained details of the bank accounts of Ms Bhutto and her husband, as well as a number of other people who were closely linked to the former prime minister.

The military authorities say they contain enough evidence to implicate Ms Bhutto and her husband in a number of cases of alleged kickbacks.

Retrial

Last week, Ms Bhutto had won a legal battle in Pakistan when the country's supreme court ordered a retrial in the only case in which she had been convicted for corruption.

But if what the authorities are saying about these bank documents is true, then there might be more trouble for Ms Bhutto in the coming days.

Meanwhile in a related development, the authorities in the United States have detained a former chief of Pakistan navy, Admiral Mansurul Haq.

Officials in Islamabad said Mr Haq is wanted in a number of alleged cases of corruption related to defence imports and that efforts were being made to bring him back to Pakistan for a proper trial.