Pakistan  ex-PM ‘banned’ from leaving country contrary to amnesty: Bhutto party News
Pakistan ex-PM ‘banned’ from leaving country contrary to amnesty: Bhutto party

[JURIST] Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto [BBC profile] has been barred from leaving Pakistan in violation of an amnesty agreement signed by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf [BBC profile], according to her Pakistan People's Party (PPP) [party website] Tuesday. As part of the agreement, the government was to lift a ban on Bhutto leaving the country, which had been in place for many years during her exile. Last week, Bhutto returned to Pakistan after nine years in Great Britain and Dubai after the Pakistani government said that she would not be arrested [JURIST reports] on corruption charges upon arrival. BBC News has more.

Bhutto and Musharraf are political rivals [BBC backgrounder], but Musharraf earlier this month signed [JURIST report] the "reconciliation ordinance" granting Bhutto amnesty in an attempt to boost his waning popularity. The Supreme Court of Pakistan said last week that it would hear a challenge to the ordinance [JURIST report].