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Former Pak Punjab CM arrested

A former chief minister of Pakistan's Punjab province was allegedly arrested yesterday on corruption charges.

The authorities arrested Mian Manzoor Watoo, former Punjab chief minister, his son and a close relative, on charges of misusing government funds allocated for social welfare programmes, said Binyamin Rizvi, a provincial legislator.

Watoo had led a revolt in Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief's Pakistan Muslim League in 1992 and formed his own faction. He later formed an alliance with former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and led a coalition government in Punjab -- Sharief's home province.

Earlier yesterday, Watoo had sponsored an advertisement in several national newspapers asking Sharief to provide details of his family's assets. "The nation wants accountability," the advertisement had said.

Sharief has been dogged by charges of corruption, which he has denied.

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