Pakistan PM Gilani stands firm in contempt battle

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has appeared before the country's Supreme Court in contempt proceedings, to defend his record.

The court initiated the hearing over Mr Gilani's refusal to ask Swiss officials to reopen a corruption case against President Asif Ali Zardari.

If found guilty of contempt he could be banned from holding public office.

A stand-off between the government, the judiciary and the military threatens to topple Mr Gilani's government.

After a hearing lasting little more than an hour the case was adjourned until 1 February.

Mr Gilani smiled and waved as he arrived at the Supreme Court, accompanied by his legal team and senior cabinet ministers.

In a lengthy opening statement to the seven judges, he spoke of his respect for the court and the Pakistani constitution.

He said he had not intended to defy the court but that he believed Mr Zardari had presidential immunity from prosecution.

The BBC's Aleem Maqbool looks at the mounting tensions in Pakistan

"I have discussed this with my friends and experts, and they all agree that he has got complete immunity," Mr Gilani said.

"It will not give a good message to proceed against a president who is elected by a two-thirds majority."

He said it would not be good idea to throw the president to the "wolves".

Regardless of the outcome, one of the judges said, ''it was a great day for Pakistan, that the chief executive had bowed before the majesty of the law.".

Mr Gilani's embattled government is currently embroiled in disputes with the judiciary and also with Pakistan's powerful armed forces.

The prime minister sounded conciliatory at the hearing but his appearance was intended to be a show of strength for the government, says the BBC's Aleem Maqbool in Islamabad.

'No harm'

Mr Gilani has long refused to request the Swiss authorities to reopen the corruption case against President Zardari, as the Supreme Court has demanded.

But his lawyer, Aitzaz Ahsan, indicated on Wednesday that the prime minister might reverse that stance.

"There is no harm in writing a letter to the Swiss authorities," he said.

"The president has complete immunity against criminal procedures in the courts."

He added: "I don't think the prime minister has committed contempt of court by not writing the letter. Through my arguments I will try to convince the court that the prime minister is not guilty of contempt."

If convicted, Mr Gilani would face a prison term and be disqualified from office, potentially forcing early elections.


Meanwhile, former President Pervez Musharraf has indicated he intends to stick to a promise to return in late January from self-imposed exile to run in elections, which are due by 2013.

He told the BBC he wanted to seek "the mandate of the people", despite facing arrest on his return to face accusations that he did not provide adequate security for former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto when she was assassinated in late 2007.

On Wednesday, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said Gen Musharraf would be arrested if he returned to the country.

Money laundering

Mr Zardari and his late wife, Benazir Bhutto, were found guilty in absentia by a Swiss court in 2003 of laundering millions of dollars in kickbacks from Swiss firms while they were in government.

They appealed and Swiss officials dropped the case in 2008 at the request of the Pakistani government.

The case was one of thousands dropped as a result of an amnesty that allowed Ms Bhutto to return from self-imposed exile and run for election in 2008. She was assassinated shortly after returning.

However, in 2009 Pakistan's Supreme Court declared the amnesty unconstitutional, leaving those covered by it open to prosecution.

The government is also engaged in a dispute with the military over an anonymous memo asking for US help to avert a possible army coup in Pakistan. The memo was sent in the wake of the killing of Osama Bin Laden in a US raid in May 2011.

US officials have acknowledged receiving the memo but say they took no action over it.

Both disputes have overshadowed Pakistan's deteriorating relationship with Washington following US air strikes that accidentally killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November.

Pakistan army warns PM Gilani over criticisms

Pakistan's military has publicly rebuked Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani over an escalating row.

The army warned of "serious ramifications with potentially grievous consequences" after the PM criticised military leaders in a media interview.

Meanwhile, Mr Gilani has sacked his defence secretary, who is seen as having close ties to the military.

Tensions have been rising in recent months between Pakistan's civilian government and military leaders.

The latest row is a serious source of instability in Pakistan, where the military has ruled for more than half the country's history after seizing power in a series of coups.

'Unconstitutional'

On Monday Mr Gilani was quoted telling China's People's Daily Online that Pakistan's army chief and head of intelligence acted unconstitutionally by making submissions to a Supreme Court inquiry which has been rocking the government.

The interview was broadcast as Pakistan's army chief Gen Ashfaq Kayani was visiting China.

On Wednesday, the military hit back with an unusually strongly-worded statement.

"There can be no allegation more serious than what the honourable prime minister has levelled.

"This has very serious ramifications with potentially grievous consequences for the country," the statement said, without specifying what these might be.

It said the prime minister had accused the army chief and the head of Inter-Services Intelligence of violating the constitution. The army said Gen Kayani had "followed the book".

"Allegiance to state and the constitution is and will always remain [his] prime consideration."

The sacking of the defence secretary, retired general Naeem Khalid Lodhi, is likely to heighten frictions with military leaders.

A senior official told AFP news agency that Gen Lodhi had been removed from his post for gross misconduct.

Gen Lodhi recently wrote to the Supreme Court saying the government had administrative, but not operational, control of the army. State media said he lost his job "for creating misunderstanding between state institutions".

Last month Mr Gilani said conspirators were plotting to bring down his government, without specifically blaming the military. That prompted Gen Kayani to dismiss coup rumours.

'Memogate'

Relations between the government and the military have seriously deteriorated in recent weeks.

The Supreme Court is investigating an anonymous memo which sought US help to avert a possible military coup in Pakistan following the killing by US forces of al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in May.

It is not clear who wrote the memo or conveyed it to the Americans. They say they received it but took no action.

Pakistan's military - deeply humiliated by the discovery of Bin Laden on Pakistani soil and the secret US operation to kill him - has been incensed by the affair.

The scandal has already cost Pakistan's former ambassador to Washington, Husain Haqqani, his job. He denies any role in the memo, as does President Asif Ali Zardari.

He could be forced to quit if the trail is found to lead to his door. The Supreme Court investigation aims to get to the bottom of the scandal.

Mr Zardari's government is also on a collision course with the judiciary, which wants to reopen old corruption cases in which the president argues he is innocent.