Pak government releases list of NRO beneficiaries
Islamabad | Saturday, Nov 21 2009 IST
 

Pakistan government has issued the list of National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) beneficiaries including President Asif Ali Zardari.

Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf had promulgated the NRO in October 2007 as part of a power sharing deal with slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto clearing thousands of politicians and bureaucrats from corruption charges. Those who got indemnity under the NRO includes President Zardari, chief of Muhtahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Altaf Hussain as well as top leaders of his party, interior minister Rehman Malik and at least three Pakistani ambassadors.

According to the list, 8,041 people took advantage of the Ordinance; of them, 7793 belong to Sindh, which is the maximum number of beneficiaries from one province.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Law Minister Afzal Sandhu read some of the names to the media which included Asif Ali Zardari, Rehman Malik, Ambassadors Hussain Haqqani, A R Siddidqui, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, former deputy speaker of National Assemnbly, Haji Nawaz Khokhar, defence minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, Bagum Nusrat Bhutto, mother of Benazir Bhutto, sitting minister Jahangir Badar, and several others including a former interior minister Aftab Sherpao and ex-chief of Intelligence Bureau, retired Brigadier Imtiaz Ahmad.

Others who got themselves cleared under NRO include MQM chief Altaf Hussein and his top leaders including MQM's sitting ministers Dr. Faroqq Sattar and Babar Ghauri, Governor Sindh, Ishrat ul Ibad, Dr. Imran Farooq, Nouman Sehgul, Saleem Shehzad, Kanwar Khalid Younis, and Safdar Baqari.

Altaf Hussein comes under trial for 72 cases, while 7793 people benefited from 3230 cases in Sindh. Chief Minister of Punjab Shahbaz Sharifs advisor Saeed Mehdi is also among the NRO beneficiaries.

There were two cases against the Prime Minister. However, he was acquitted in both the cases. The name of his wife was not in the list.

The NRO gave indemnity to people in the government from January 1, 1985 to October 12, 1999. However, former premier Nawaz Sharif, whose government was toppled by Musharraf on October 12, 1999 in a bloodless military coup could not avail the idemnity in the cases registered against him.

Leading analysts and jurists believe that the Supreme Court can re-open all the cases in the light of a ruling that Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry gave just few days ahead of the imposition of emergency in November 2007 while hearing identical petitions challeging the NRO that "those receiving an amnesty would "not be entitled to claim any protection (from prosecution) if this court concludes that the ordinance and its provisions are beyond the constitution."

-- (UNI) -- 21DF7.xml

 

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