Contempt threat over Pak President graft letter

Pakistan's top court Wednesday threatened the government with contempt proceedings after rejecting a draft letter to Swiss prosecutors that ministers hoped would end a legal wrangle over graft cases against the president.

The government finally agreed to write to the Swiss last week about multimillion dollar corruption allegations against President Asif Ali Zardari after nearly three years of resisting court orders to do so.

But on Wednesday the Supreme Court said the draft letter prepared by Law Minister Farooq Naek was unsatisfactory and gave him until October 5 to make changes.

Judge Asif Saeed Khosa warned if the court's objections were not answered by October 5, it may launch contempt proceedings.

No details of the content of the letter or the court's objections have been revealed.

Former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was thrown out of office in June after being convicted of contempt for refusing to write to the Swiss.

Until its climbdown last week, the government argued it was unable to write to the Swiss as Zardari enjoys complete 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 laundering $12 million allegedly paid in bribes by companies seeking customs inspection contracts.

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