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Sharief says charges 'cooked up'

Pakistan's deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharief said today that the charges being brought against him by the military-led government were ''cooked up.''

Sharief, his brother Shahbaz, the former chief minister of Punjab province, and five others have been accused of criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, attempted murder and hijacking -- a charge that could lead to a death sentence. The court was also likely to charge Sharief with waging a war against Pakistan, an allegation not made in the initial complaint lodged with the police last month.

''We know, and the lawyers' community knows, what is the reality of this case. My opinion is that it's a made-up case, a cooked-up case,'' Sharief told reporters minutes before an anti-terrorism court began hearing the case in Karachi. Sharief said the government and its lawyers were confused on how to conduct the case.

''The government and its lawyers do not know how to defend the case they have brought up,'' he said.

The court last Wednesday delayed formal charges against Sharief and the others until today, saying the chargesheet submitted by the prosecution was not complete. The laying of formal charges was also delayed a week earlier to allow the government to appoint a new judge after a change in the law governing the proceedings of the anti-terrorism court.

The start of today's proceedings was delayed for about 30 minutes after the judge was told that some of the prosecutors had not arrived in court. Soon after the submission of the chargesheet, the judge was expected to read out the charges before the accused and take their pleas, paving the way for the trial to start.

The allegations arise from an alleged attempt on October 12 to divert the plane bringing army chief General Pervez Musharraf back to Karachi from Sri Lanka. Sharief had sacked Musharraf earlier in the day, but hours after his return the general overthrew Sharief in a bloodless coup and later assumed the title of chief executive.

UNI

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