Zardari on the Hot Seat

Some fun tidbits - Farah Ispahani is wife of Pakistan's ambasador to US Hussain Haqqani. Both husband and wife are famous and known partisan and corrupt in Pakistani political circles.

Many in Pakistan consider this couple as traitors and on the payroll of zardari.

For anyone who disputes that Zardari was a bribe-taking corrupt politician, I have heard multiple first hand accounts of his activities and believe me he is guilty of massive corruption and looting. Have even heard from his own friends who made millions thanks to his "generosity"

What I don't understand is that why are all these stories cropping up now? A week ago Zardari was the saviour of Pakistan who was fighting against the "evil" General Musharraf??? What sort of propaganda is this? Looks like a smear campaign for sure... meant to portray everything about Pakistan in a negative light.

To Newsweek and it Editors - grow up and get a life! Zardari was corrupt 10 years ago and all the facts in your article, while true, have been around for years. Why publicise them now?

Musharraf for president (again)!

I just love the last three lines of the article! So the Swiss will settle the charges "without any prison sentences" if they are allowed to "confiscate" the money! In other words, Zardari was being tried, partly at least, for exacting bribes, and he has a chance to bribe himself out of his legal troubles! Is that a routine
thing witin the Swiss legal system? Should the money seized be going back to Pakistan. I suggest that
money be handed to onone of world's biggest private charity, i.e. the Edhi Foundation of Karachi, Pakistan.

p.s. Why on earth would Newsweek (or rather "Spinweek") chose to file a piece about Zardari's legal troubles
under their "Terror Watch" file? Or is it just a crude trick to link anything related to Pakistan to the dirty "T"
word? Shame on you 'Spinweek" for your vicious smear campaign against Pakistan!

Mr. Asif Zardari was not known in Pakistan as "Mr. 10% " for nothing when his wife Benazir Bhutto was prime minister. Anyone who wanted to do business with the Pakistani government then had to go through him with a "10%" bribe. He was convicted for, and spend time in prison. The Swiss charges are probably
related to that era, and his contention that are politically motivated is quite preposterous.

Now he is calling the shots in Pakistan because he inherited the party's leadership when his wife was
assassinated -even though he was not a candidate in last February's election, nor was he ever elected to any political post. Worse yet, his late wife made an agreement with Musharraf to drop the charges against
her and Zardari, and that is why Zardari objects so strongly on the reinstatement of the Chief Supreme Court Justice Chaoudry that Nawaz Shariff want reinstated. Zardari is affraid that Chaoudry may rule the
dismissal of the charges against him by Musharraf under a State of Emergency was unconstitutional, and
disqualify him from holding any public office.

Nawaz Shariff, leader of the second largest party in parliament, insists on the reinstatement of all judges unconditionally, and he won't allow Zardari to become a selfish and free-rolling kingmaker while Pakistan
is both politically and financially in a semi-comatose state. There is a lot of political turbulence ahead for Pakistan, and Zardari is not going to have an easy ride to political power and glory. He came from a corrupt past, became a political party leader by default of his wife's death, but it won't be easy for him to
corrupt the political process and become president. But if he does, by default -and with the U.S. clout- his future will be very uncertain, as will be Pakistan's chance for political stability. Nikos Retsos, retired academic.