A Pakistan court on Wednesday declared former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's husband Asif Ali Zardari a proclaimed offender and issued arrest warrants against him on corruption charges, weeks after Interpol issued red notices against the duo.
The National Accountability Court issued arrest warrants against Zardari in a case, charging him with illegally acquiring assets beyond known sources of income, a court statement said.
Zardari, who was released from a Pakistani jail on bail last year after a six-year imprisonment, is living with his self-exiled wife Bhutto in Dubai. He recently underwent a cardiac surgery in New York.
The court also issued an order advising him to appear before it within 40 days, the statement said, adding that the NAB prosecutor had been advised to file application before the court for attachment/confiscation of Zardari's inland and overseas property according to relevant provisions of law.
Zardari and Bhutto have already been declared proclaimed offenders in another corruption case followed by issuance of Interpol red notices last month notifying members countries that the two faced arrest in Pakistan on corruption charges, the statement said.
Reacting to the Interpol notices, Bhutto had said that she was prepared to return to Pakistan immediately if any arrest warrant was pending against her. She charged that the notices were pressure tactics by President Pervez Musharraf to make her reach a political settlement with him.