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FRANKFURT — Switzerland has released millions of dollars in assets belonging to Asif Ali Zardari, a leading Pakistani politician who is expected to be named the country’s president next week, Swiss authorities said.

Mr. Zardari’s accounts were frozen in 1997 at the request of Pakistani authorities investigating allegations that Mr. Zardari had received kickbacks while he was a government official and his wife, Benazir Bhutto, was prime minister. In June, Pakistan’s attorney general notified the Swiss that he was no longer investigating Mr. Zardari, who leads one of the country’s largest political parties. The attorney general wrote that neither Mr. Zardari nor Ms. Bhutto had done anything illegal, and that the charges had been politically motivated, the Swiss prosecutor general, Daniel Zappelli, said Wednesday in a telephone interview. As a result, the Swiss dropped a money-laundering case against Mr. Zardari and released his assets. “For money laundering to be proven, you have to show it was the product of a crime, but we don’t have any evidence for a crime committed in Pakistan,” Mr. Zappelli said. The value of the assets is about $60 million, Read more »

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan’s long-troubled ruling coalition collapsed Monday amid arguments over who should be president and whether and how to reinstate dozens of senior judges fired last year.

The disintegration of the coalition, anticipated for some time, does not necessarily mean the government will collapse — at least not immediately. The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), which has the most parliamentary seats, probably can cobble together an alliance.

Problems remain

Still, the coalition’s downfall bodes ill for government efforts to confront an economy in near-meltdown and an Islamic insurgency Read more »

Nawaz Scharif (rechts), hier mit zwei führenden Mitglieder seiner Muslimliga, macht die PPP für den Bruch der Koalition verantwortlich.

Es war vor allem die Abneigung gegen Präsident Muscharraf, die das pakistanische Regierungsbündnis zusammenhielt: Nur eine Woche nach seiner Rücktrittsankündigung ist die Koalition in Islamabad zerbrochen. Die Muslimliga machte unüberbrückbare Differenzen geltend.
Eine Überraschung ist der Bruch des Bündnisses von Volkspartei (PPP) und Muslimliga Nawaz von Ex-Premier Nawaz Scharif in Pakistan nicht: Schon kurz nach den Wahlen im Februar, als die beiden stärksten Parteien sich zu einer Koalition zusammenraufen mussten, traten die Differenzen zutage. Heikler Punkt war von Anfang an die Frage der Wiedereinsetzung jener 60 Richter, die der inzwischen zurückgetretene Präsident Pervez Muscharraf im vergangenen Jahr entlassen hatte. Dieser Kernforderung von Scharif, der die Muslimliga Nawaz führt, Read more »

Anhänger der Taliban-Bewegung in Pakistan. Von nun an gilt Tehrik-e-Taliban als illegal.

Pakistan hat eine Gruppierung der Taliban für illegal erklärt. Indes kamen bei einem Überfall auf einen Parlamentarier mindestens zehn Menschen ums Leben.
Die pakistanische Regierung hat die radikal-islamische Organisation Tehrik-e-Taliban offiziell verboten. Wie ein Sprecher des Innenministeriums am Montag in Islamabad mitteilte, wurde die Bewegung des Extremistenführers Baitullah Mehsud zur “terroristischen Vereinigung” erklärt.

Die in den Stammesgebieten im Nordwesten des Landes aktive Organisation gilt als pakistanischer Ableger der in Afghanistan aktiven Taliban und Dachorganisation der militanten Islamisten in Pakistan.

Vergangene Woche hatte sich die Bewegung zu zwei verheerenden Selbstmordanschlägen mit mehr als 100 Toten vor einem Krankenhaus in der Nordwest-Grenzprovinz und einer Fabrik nordwestlich von Islamabad bekannt. Von der Regierung im März begonnene Gespräche mit Mehsud über einen Friedensvertrag waren gescheitert.
Überfall im Swat-Tal

Unterdessen sind bei einem Überfall islamischer Extremisten auf das Haus eines Read more »

ASIF Ali Zardari, the controversial widower of Benazir Bhutto, became the frontrunner to replace Pervez Musharraf as Pakistan’s president at the weekend when he was nominated to run in a poll scheduled for next month.

But almost immediately attempts were under way to thwart his ambition as it emerged that he was poised to assume powers greater than those held by Pervez Musharraf during his tenure as military dictator.

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who heads the junior partner in the coalition, demanded yesterday that the dominant Pakistan People’s Party agree to slash the president’s Read more »

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is set to meet with his Russian counterpart, amid escalating tensions between Moscow and Washington.

President Ahmadinejad, who is scheduled to attend the annual Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit on August 28 in Dushanbe, will meet with President Dmitry Medvedev for the first time since he took office.

The two sides will discuss further expansion of bilateral ties and regional Read more »

THE widower of slain former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto has decided to run for president in the wake of Pervez Musharraf’s resignation, officials announced today.

Asif Ali Zardari yesterday won the backing of lawyers from the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) to contest the September 6 poll to choose a successor to Musharraf, who stepped down on Monday amid the threat of impeachment.

But the fragile ruling coalition comprising the PPP, now led by Mr Zardari, and the party of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, remains at odds over several issues, Read more »