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Bhutto aides plan fitting reply to jail sentence

Former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto said her conviction on graft charges and jail sentence was "a gross miscarriage of justice" while her party workers held emergency meetings today to plot their response.

It is expected that Bhutto's party executive will mobilise the party faithful to demonstrate in major cities throughout Pakistan.

Yesterday, a Pakistani court sentenced Bhutto, who is currently in London, to five years in jail, disqualified her from politics and fined her $ 8.6 million. The court also ordered confiscated her extensive property.

In her hometown of Karachi, Bhutto's supporters set fire to effigies of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief, Bhutto's archrival. They shouted slogans condemning the government and vowed to support their embattled leader.

"The charges against me were based from the outset on fabricated charges and forged documents created by the Nawaz regime to politically frame me and ultimately undermine the Pakistan People's Party," Bhutto said in a statement from London.

She has asked international human rights groups to study the documents. "Nawaz Sharief shall not succeed in creating a dictatorship in Pakistan,'' she said.

Charges of corruption and abuse of power have dogged Bhutto for much of her political career. Both her first and second terms in office were brought to a sudden halt when her governments were dismissed on charges of corruption and misuse of power. She has steadfastly maintained her innocence.

But Sharief too has been tagged with charges of widespread corruption, and Bhutto has filed several charges of graft against the prime minister, his family members and colleagues.

It is not immediately clear whether Bhutto will be arrested when she returns to Pakistan within the next week.

Her lawyers in Islamabad say it is unlikely because they will appeal her conviction. Under Pakistani law the sentence is stayed while an appeal is being heard, said Iftikar Gilani, a senior party official and prominent lawyer.

UNI

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