Cracks deepen in Pakistan's ruling coalition

In a sign of growing rancour between Pakistan's ruling coalition partners, Pakistan People's Party chairman Asif Ali Zardari has lashed out at Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz president Shahbaz Sharif for not taking steps to release his friend, who is in a Punjab jail for nine years on charges of drug smuggling.

Zardari has been requesting Shahbaz to order the release on parole of Rehmat Shah Afridi, the chief editor of The Frontier Post, but the PML-N president has reportedly turned down the request though his party is in power in Punjab.

'I have called Shahbaz Sharif sahib at least 10 times in the last couple of days and requested him to forget his old differences with Rehmat Shah Afridi. I asked for the release of my friend on parole, which is not difficult for the Punjab government but Shahbaz Sharif is making excuses,' Zardari told The News.

'Where are the champions of the press freedom today? Rehmat Shah Afridi was arrested and booked in a fake drug smuggling case on political grounds. He spent nine years in jail just for writing the truth and now he is seriously ill, but some people still want to take their revenge.'

Afridi's lawyers have blamed former premier and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif for concocting a fake drug case because the editor helped slain former premier Benazir Bhutto in 1989 when she was facing a no-confidence move in the National Assembly.

However, the PML-N has denied any political rivalry with Afridi.

The PPP and PML-N, two former arch-rivals, had joined hands for the February 18 general elections held after President Pervez Musharraf's eight-year military rule. But the ties have strained in recent weeks with Nawaz Sharif's PML-N quitting the cabinet following differences on the issue of reinstating judges sacked by Musharraf during emergency last year.

Shahbaz has briefed Zardari on what he described as legal problems in Afridi's case.

According to Shahbaz, there are problems because Afridi was arrested in 1999 by Pakistan Army officers and not the political government.

Law Minister Farooq Naek has said that the Punjab government declined a request to release Afridi on parole. He said the case against Afridi was fake and excuses presented by the Punjab government were weak.

'I will come up with some kind of solution in a day or two,' the minister said.

Naek said that despite legal lacunae and procedural flaws, the trial court came down heavily on Afridi and sentenced him for allegedly carrying 20 kg of drugs in his car and for hiding narcotics in his truck in Faisalabad.

'We will provide relief to Rehmat Shah Afridi at any cost and it's a challenge for me,' Naek said.