Pakistan court 'inches' from solution to graft showdown

Pakistan’s top court on Friday gave the government more time to meet its demands about corruption allegations against the president, indicating that a solution to a nearly three-year showdown was imminent.

Since December 2009, the Supreme Court has insisted that the government re-open multi-million-dollar graft cases against Asif Ali Zardari in Switzerland that were frozen when he became head of state in 2008.

Earlier this year it convicted and dismissed prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani for refusing to ask Switzerland to re-open the cases, but the government appeared to back down last month by agreeing to write a letter.

“We are inches away from a perfect solution, which upholds the dignity of the court and takes care of any other concerns,” Judge Asif Saeed Khosa told the court.

He gave the government until October 10 to consult Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and amend a paragraph of a still unpublished draft letter that the court had deemed objectionable and threatened fresh contempt proceedings over.

“This opportunity should not be allowed to go waste if we are so close to a solution,” said Khosa.

The government has long argued that it could not ask the Swiss to reopen the cases as the president has immunity from prosecution as head of state.

The allegations against Zardari date back to the 1990s, when he and his late wife, former premier Benazir Bhutto, are suspected of using Swiss banks to launder US$12 million in alleged kickbacks from companies.