Pakistan denies coup as court ruling rocks Zardari government

[FarCenter]

Pakistan's government this morning dismissed rumours of a coup in the country as the fallout from a supreme court verdict continued to rock President Asif Ali Zardari's government.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Pakistan's top anti-corruption agency, said it was reopening hundreds of cases after the court quashed a legal amnesty introduced by the former president Pervez Musharraf two years ago.

Ghazni Khan, the agency's spokesman, said it had asked the interior ministry to put 248 people on the exit control list, preventing them from leaving the country.

Khan did not give the names, but local TV stations, citing official sources, said the interior minister, Rehman Malik, was among them. Malik, who is usually voluble in front of the media, refused to comment on the case.

The agency also said it was reviving arrest warrants in some cases and freezing assets. The court ruling that struck down the corruption amnesty on Wednesday triggered turmoil in Pakistan's political system.

Opposition politicians are clamouring for Zardari's resignation, but he has insisted he will not go. As the president, he enjoys immunity from prosecution.

As temperatures rose, Zardari's spokesman Farhatullah Babar this morning ruled out suggestions of a return to military government. "There is no coup," he said.

<SNIP>http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/17/pakistan-exit-ban-corruption