Retrial ordered on Bhutto corruption charges

Pakistan's Supreme Court has ordered a retrial into corruption charges against former prime minister Ms Benazir Bhutto.

Pakistan's Supreme Court has ordered a retrial into corruption charges against former prime minister Ms Benazir Bhutto.

Ms Bhutto was found guilty of corruption and sentenced to five years in jail in April 1999, but the verdict and sentence have been suspended.

The Supreme Court also ordered a new trial for Ms Bhutto's jailed husband Asif Ali Zardari.

Both Ms Bhutto and her husband were found guilty of corruption in a lower court, sentenced to five years in jail and disqualified from politics for seven years. She was not present at the appeal.

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Ms Bhutto has been living in self-imposed exile in the United Arab Emirates and Britain. She has refused to return while her conviction was under appeal.

In a brief order the Supreme Court ordered a retrial and gave no reason.

Zardari has been in jail in Pakistan since his wife's government was dismissed in November 1996.

She was ousted on corruption charges by the president, who used his constitutional powers to dismiss her as well as parliament.

PA