Pakistani officials may face graft prosecution: government

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Two Pakistan cabinet ministers could face prosecution on corruption charges after a graft amnesty introduced in 2007 expires next week, a government list of possible defendants showed on Saturday.

The amnesty was brought in by former President Pervez Musharraf under a plan to share power with former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

The amnesty cleared the way for Bhutto to return from years in self-imposed exile but she was assassinated late that year.

Her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who is now president, and many of their political allies were also covered by the amnesty.

The Supreme Court said in July the amnesty order needed parliamentary approval to stand. A divisive bid by the government to secure that approval was dropped this month in the face of opposition, and the amnesty lapses on November 28.

Minister of State for Law Afzal Sandhu, released the list of names of people who were covered by the amnesty, including Zardari, Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Defense Minister Ahmed Mukhtar.

Zardari is protected from prosecution by his presidential immunity but the courts could decide to reopen cases against other people on the list, Sandhu said.

The government would abide by any ruling of the Supreme Court regarding cases pending, Sandhu said.

"The government will not give any protection to those whose names have appeared in the list," Sandhu told the news conference.

Analysts say even if Zardari can not be prosecuted, the revival of cases against his colleagues, including the ambassadors to the United States and Britain, would be a blow to the president. It would also raise political tension at a time when the United States has called for Pakistan to focus on the campaign against Islamist militancy.

Zardari was dogged by corruption accusations stemming from the 1990s when his wife, who also faced corruption charges, served two terms as prime minister.

He spent years in jail but was never convicted. He said the charges were politically motivated.

A spokeswoman for his Pakistan People's Party said 90 percent of the cases against those on the list were politically motivated, adding the issue must not distract attention.

"We have to be focus on two things and that is the war on terror and the strengthening of our political system," the party spokeswoman, Fauzia Wahab, told Dawn television.