Pakistan

Musharraf spills the beans

Musharraf says graft cases against Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari in Swiss courts were not proven.

Khalid Qayyum October 04, 2010

BIRMINGHAM: Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf has said that graft cases against slain PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto and her spouse Asif Zardari in Switzerland’s courts were not proven.

In an exclusive interview with Daily Express, Musharraf revealed that a letter was also written to Swiss authorities during his regime showing displeasure at the lengthy trial.

He said the rounds of negotiations he held with Benazir Bhutto were always one-on-one.

He said people on TV talk shows make noises about NRO and talk incessantly about the deal even though they know nothing about the facts.

Replying to a question, he said his meetings with Benazir Bhutto in Abu Dhabi used to span three to four hours, and they were always one-on-one. Rehman Malik accompanied the PPP leader but did not participate in the negotiations.

He recalled that when in the first round of talks Benazir asked for abolition of 58-2 (b) “I refused point blank”. He said when talking about the cases instituted against her during Nawaz Sharif government, Benazir used to become misty-eyed.

The ex-president said that the cases against Benazir Bhutto and Asif Zardari were neither proved in Swiss courts nor in Pakistan’s, while both were acquitted in many cases.

He said he had written to the Swiss courts that their performance was even worse than Pakistani courts as they failed to decide the cases, “but the fact of the matter is that there was nothing in those cases”.

Precisely for this reason, Musharraf continued, he presented details of his talks with Benazir before his political friends, including Chaudhry Shujaat and Pervaiz Elahi. Among the points he presented included ending of cases against Benazir Bhutto and her spouse and setting aside the bar on becoming prime minister a third time.

The Chaudhry brothers, he said, reacted by saying that the cases be dropped but the bar on third-time premiership should stay or the Q league would lose elections.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said there used be a concluding session on both sides after the meetings between Benazir and Musharraf and follow-ups by the nominees of General Musharf “and me in Dubai and London based on the minutes of the meetings drafted by Benazir and myself”.

All discussions were (focused) on transition to democracy.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 4^th, 2010.

COMMENTS (31)

sahiba | 14 years ago | Reply NRO was Mush great fault not because the cases were true. but because if cases of zardari were not proved than govt should have withdrawn these cases without using it as a tool for political bargaining.Of course case were not proved it is just propaganda that swiss govt. convicted zardari

uzair | 14 years ago | Reply Well this clearly shows that he had just that little selfishness in him , to stay in control , to hold the power . which actually bought him to this state , If he would have disclosed the meeting and the point of no legitimate cases on Benazir Bhutto and Asif Zardari with the public , it would have made him loose Only the election not his Respect that was hard earned .

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Asim | 14 years ago | Reply Geo Musharraf. Pakistan first.

Gohar | 14 years ago | Reply He is crying for gaining attention! where are those guys who LOVE's MUSH.... he bring such a shame to the country.

Abdul Rahman Khan | 14 years ago | Reply General Musharraf and his associates particularly chaudhry brothers were only interested in winning for their Q league which also could have paved the way for bcoming parvez ilahi next prime minsiter. For this very selfish0 reason they opted for withdrawing corruption charges against Benazir and lher spouse. General Musharraf was wrong to say the charges were not proved.While nawaz sharif and co. mishandled the case, musharraf himself dragged his feet on and kept on negotiating deal with her. Benazir was a cunning politician. She knew the longer the case dragged on the lesser chances of her and her husband's conviction, by hook or by crook. Hope chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad chaudhry will not succumb to any pressure or delaying tactis by the accused persons in this case and expedite the case and bring back the looted money.

majid | 14 years ago | Reply @Humayun Iqbal well he said it because of the abusive language khwaja asif used in Time article against him. you should read that before commenting. these chamchas of nawaz use very nasty language on TV. I think what musharraf said was very mild compared to that.

Humayun Iqbal | 14 years ago | Reply Pervez Musharraf proved himself to be an attention seeker. The statements he gave were very rude and rash and don’t really suit anyone to pass that sort of remark. That actually proves the frustration of the Musharraf in these times when he is nothing more than a joke. He is in the habit of hearing Yes. He is in the habit of people who always kowtow. He still disregard the politicians especially the Nawaz Sharif and still is reminiscent of those times when he threw Nawaz Shairf in jail and then to exile. Nawaz Sharif has done big blunders in the past. Appointing Musharraf as chief of army staff on the advice of Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan was the biggest of them. Perhaps that is why Musharraf calls him an idiot. Musharraf believes that whoever has appointed him as COAS must be an idiot.

Fakhir | 14 years ago | Reply Nawaz insituted these cases under vicious ehtesaab bureau of Saif ur rahman - they even bribed judges to try to get convictions. Fact is non were proven so let the PPP's name be cleared.

Murtaza Ali Jafri | 14 years ago | Reply I hope the emotional spillage made Musharuff feel bettter, what is he trying to do? designate himself as her natural successor?

Muhammad Amjad | 14 years ago | Reply Ohh God Now Ex Chief Pakistan Army nw need support of PPP Co Chairman to start his politics like NRO.So he is going to give statements in fever of ASif Ali Zardari. But Question is arise in PAkistan that is ZArdari is ready to give NRO like support to Mushraf. If this happened it will be dangerous for pakistan. Already corruption is on peak in pakistan. In last month a meter reader send us bill with 200 extra units.due to this we pay almost Rs1600 extra. We forward complain to Incharge of City Sub Division Khan Pur District Rahim YAr Khan but he was not agree becos may be there is share for him in corruption Now thi month when I wgain request to Meter Reader that please note down actual units in bill that he object that "ap hamray opar rahim karoo". I say I am also Govt employee and not possible for me to cooperate with you than he says that now your meter is faulty. You cooperate with us otherwise you will pay maximum What is this ?????what is going on in wapda..

Shani Syed | 14 years ago | Reply Admitting there is nothing in the swiss cases Mr Mush why did you then spend the poor awam's 2 arab rupees on it??? Are you serious or are u you making a statement as a politician who wants to cum to Pakistan with out facing the court or things that may follow you... if you are not guilty n bold enough to face the consequences we are with you but if not please the country has enough of the corrupt politicians already with deals n NROs n swiss cases I alwaysprayed that you had learned frm ur mistakes this seems disappointing please be different not the same chip of the same block the country cannot take more of this than wuts its already going thru....

Babar Thaheem | 14 years ago | Reply As much as we all love to talk about democracy, rights welfare etc etc, Our beloved country has always been in a better shape with dictators around and the economy after there tenure is different story. His tenure had mistakes but was anything better than this mess that is eating the country up. But the Million $ question is, he ruled as a general with not a lot of baggage and now he wants to come as a politician. Politician LOL....do the math.

Pakistan | 14 years ago | Reply I liked the last comment of Mr Sultan Ahmed. But can people be logical? I doubt. Musharaf has a record of taking bold actions and bold decisions through out his life. I personally feel he is honest and thus trust his statement

Sultan Ahmed. | 14 years ago | Reply He is a eyewitness, recorded his statement in the court of PRESS and now need your opinion/vote,whether it is admissible or not,please carry on?

Amjad | 14 years ago | Reply By making such a statement at this stage Musharaf wants to jstify his shameful act of issuing an ordnance like NRO. We all know that billions were spent by NAB under Musharaf and in his speaches after taking over from Nawaz Sharif he had prounced Benazir as the most corrupt politician of Pakistan. During the recent weeks even Mr. Saifur Rehman, on a number of channels had emphatically dispelled the impression that the Swiss cases were cooked up cases. We also know that these cases had been decided against Benazir and Zardari but these were reopened as a result of an appeal filed by Benazir. At the same time no one in PPP has been able to tell the nation the source of Zardari's wealth parked in foreign lands particularly the 60 million dollars in Swiss banks. If these are fake cases then why Zardari's closest friend and our worthy ambassador in London had secretly gone to Switzerland to illegally confiscate the case record. Why Mr. Zardari is so scared of obeying the Supreme court's judgement of reopening these cases. Why Mr.Zardari and croonies are puting up all sorts of stupid excuses to avoid action on Supreme court's judgment. It is very important that cases are decided in Switzerland so that the nation finally could see the black faces of corrupt leaders who have been befooling the nation for far too long. The cases of these clever, powerful and filthy rich politicians will never be decided against them because with their delaying tactics the cases keep on lingering in the courts for donkey's years till they come back into power. Then using their authority either they destroy the evidence or they get the cases fixed up in the courts of their hand picked corrupt judges and get a judgment in their favour. As for as Mr. Musharaf is concerned, keeping in view his track record of 9 years of lies and self serving politics, no one can believe his word. His selfish politics have already caused enormous damage to our beloved country. Like a student of class 2 he is blaming his ex political comrades for luring him into promulgating the cursed law of NRO. What kind of leader he is that he did a wrong when as a dictator he himself was the last word and now like a kid he is trying to put the blame on those who were his own pawns on the chess board. Pakistanis know very well that Musharaf used NAB and rubbished his own previous utterances by going in for compromises just to prolong his illegal rule on Pakistan.

Asgher Javed | 14 years ago | Reply Musharraf did not bring NRO for PPP and he could only tell as to why he had promulgated it. Musharraf should clarify in the court that why he promulgated NRO at the advice of his friends and the questions on NRO should be asked from Musharraf. there had not been any deal struck between Benazir Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif, however both the leaders entered into negotiations for restoration of democracy in the country as even at that time Benazir Bhutto had talked of ‘no deal’ and hinted at returning to Pakistan and facing the cases . If there had been any sort of deal between Benazir Bhutto and Pervez Musharraf she would not have faced cases on her return to the country. Numbers of cases were registered against Pervez Musharraf and despite it if he wanted to return to Pakistan he would have to face the cases. The controversial statements emanating from the UK are actually meant for Pakistani establishment to see its reaction.He will not come back to Pakistan

Natasha | 14 years ago | Reply trying to get maximum media coverage.

Tani | 14 years ago | Reply @ FURQAN: If Mush is a fresh mind that I don't know what else to say here..... Just mind numbing rubbish.

FURQAN | 14 years ago | Reply Its not paternal right of PPP / PMLN to rule Pakistan. We are fed up of heridiatry politics. Fresh minds from middle class needed. People like Musharraf and Imran Khan are welcomed to politics.

Zara | 14 years ago | Reply Adil aur Rehmdil? Seriously? Wonder if the Baloch agree...

HT | 14 years ago | Reply "Musharraf is telling a lie to make himself relevant and acceptable to the PPP. If the cases were not proven, why did he not ask the Swiss authorities or courts to send a letter to that effect and make that letter a part of the government record. Musharraf had no power to make his own judgement that the cases were not proven. It was the pre-rogative of the Swiss courts to issue such verdict and not Musharraf." "Classic case of ” You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours “." EXACTLY!!

ArifQ | 14 years ago | Reply Interesting to say the least, timing and content can make a huge difference. Who is Musharraf trying to impress or expose? Certainly, PPP (AZ) appears to be the beneficiary of his revealation, but who is the target, is it Nawaz Sharif or judiciary? I am guessing both. Musharraf is back in action which makes the political landscape fun to watch.

parvez | 14 years ago | Reply Classic case of " You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours ".

Dr Qaisar Rashid | 14 years ago | Reply Musharraf is telling a lie to make himself relevant and acceptable to the PPP. If the cases were not proven, why did he not ask the Swiss authorities or courts to send a letter to that effect and make that letter a part of the government record. Musharraf had no power to make his own judgement that the cases were not proven. It was the pre-rogative of the Swiss courts to issue such verdict and not Musharraf.

Sultan Ahmed. | 14 years ago | Reply reality has been opened to all, if it is dependable,then no need to wast the time.

Mohsin Hijazee | 14 years ago | Reply Well its not true that cases did not prove anything rather the truth is that conviction was held in Swiss courts.

Naveed Javed | 14 years ago | Reply This is what our judiciary is all about, And Nawaz League instead of supporting the Govt. is shouting on these so called political rivalry cases, This is horribly sad, it's the time when all of must be united to save this country from the worst calamities we are facing but everyone is playing his/her own politics.. May ALMIGHTY ALLAH protects our beloved Pakistan from all the dangers and conspiracies :(

Kamil Ali | 14 years ago | Reply For a change, the reality about the cases has been revealed by Musharraf, the hand picked COAS of Nawaz Sharif. A judiciary which fails to see through a case in ten years is nothing but incompetent. Either the cases were right or they were wrong. The court failed to decide. By the way what are the judges paid for. Are they not paid for decision making????

Asmat Jamal | 14 years ago | Reply Graft cases initiated by Nawaz Sharif against Benazir Bhutto and her family remained unproved. However these cases became a big source of money making by the Lawyers and Judges of that time. This was used for black mail and extortion of money. malik Qayyum is on record to have done some thing fishy.

saher | 14 years ago | Reply what is he trying to prove? :s

Fasih Ali Khan | 14 years ago | Reply I Remember we used to hear of the stories of Aadil Aur Reham Dil Badshah in our younghood. Musharraf was our own 'Aadil Aur Reham Dil Badshah', who have paid the price of being the same.

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