Sharif likely to face new charges

ISLAMABAD, AUG. 6. The deposed Pakistani Prime Minister, Mr. Nawaz Sharif, already serving life sentences in three cases, is likely to face yet another corruption case as the Accountability Bureau is reportedly preparing fresh charges against him.

The fresh charges include misappropriation of funds and receiving kickbacks worth over Rs. 10 billions in ``out-of- the-way'' award of a motorway contract to a Turkish firm, the Pakistan Observer reported today.

The reference, based on a 400-page inquiry report by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), was submitted on July 31 to the Bureau, the daily said, adding it also involves the former Communication Minister, Mr. Azam Hoti, and former senior bureaucrats.

The charges are being scrutinised by the NAB officials and will be sent to the NAB chief, Lt. Gen. syed Mohammad Amjad, for final approval before formal submission in the Attock Accountability Court, the report said.

According to FIA findings, Mr. Sharif's Government (1990- 93) floated open international tenders for the construction of an Islamabad-Peshawar motorway an 1993. The Turkish firm, Bayindir Construction Company, being the lowest bidder worth Rs. 16 billions, was awarded the contact.

But, after Mr. Sharif's removal in 1993, the caretaker Government of the Prime Minister, Mr. Moin Qureshi, cancelled the contract for being ``not feasible''. The company challenged the decision at an International Arbitration Forum and lost on the basis of `merit' claimed by the Moin Qureshi Government.

Bayinidr's request to revive the contract was turned down by the succeeding Benazir Bhutto Government in 1994.

However, Mr. Sharif, immediately after taking over as Prime Minister in 1997, revived the contract despite on-the-record objections about the project's feasibility by officials, the report said.

According to the prosecution, the contract - awarded to Bayindir in 1993 - had swelled to nearly Rs. 26 billions by the time it was revived in 1997 due to devaluation of Pakistani currency.

To bail out Bayindir of an estimated Rs. 9 billions loss, the Turkish construction firm was straightaway paid from Government exchequer - Rs 6 billions mobilisation advance besides additional benefits, it alleged.

- PTI

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