Islamabad, September 2
Piling up pressure on estranged ally Nawaz Sharif, the PPP government today reopened corruption cases against him even as the PML-N chief intensified attacks against the ruling party, accusing it of "breaking promises and ignoring public issues".

The country's controversial anti-corruption watchdog, the National Accountability Bureau, filed an application in a court seeking resumption of a trial against former premier Sharif and his brother Shahbaz on graft charges. The move by the Bureau, which is under the law ministry, to reopen the case came just nine days after Sharif pulled his PML-N party out of the PPP-led ruling coalition.

These cases had been indefinitely adjourned last month by an anti-corruption court in Rawalpindi on technical grounds. Sharif's lawyer Khwaja Haris was quick to slam the move as politically motivated.

"It appears to be aimed at using the accountability courts against Nawaz Sharif. It appears to be used for political ends," Haris said.

Ruling out any possibility of rejoining the coalition despite requests from the PPP, Nawaz Sharrif said "We have crossed that point and we don't want to enter the ruling coalition again". In an interview to Gulf News published today, he also said he would not withdraw the PML-N's presidential candidate, former Supreme Court Chief Justice Saeed-uz-Zaman Siddiqui, who is running against Zardari. — PTI

PPP Co-chairman and front-runner in the presidential race, Asif Ali Zardari has said that his party's real test will begin after it enters the presidency. Addressing PPP lawmakers from Punjab at a dinner hosted by prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani at the PM house on Monday night, Zardari said his party wanted to take along all other political parties for the sake of democracy and political stability in the country. Taking credit for ousting a dictator through dialogue, Zardari thanked Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain for proposing his name for the presidency.

Referring to PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and his party without naming him, Zardari said, “We will wait for our friends to rejoin us as we believe that we are doing the politics of saving Pakistan.” He, however, described these friends as yet adolescent in politics and hoped they would acquire maturity to see things in the right perspective.

Asif Zardari said the PPP was committed to taking forward the mission of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto to serve the poor by transforming the system. Zardari said sitting in the presidency would be a test of political vision. “Challenges are big, but we are the largest political party. If anyone can do it, that is the PPP,” he said.

Speaking at the dinner, prime minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said after Benazir's assassination, it was Asif Zardari who had said that her death would be avenged through democracy and his political insight helped quell the feelings of the people and restore peace in the country.

BRIEFLY

68 killed in Lanka clashes
Colombo: Sri Lankan troops today captured a strategic LTTE-held town, the military said, as 65 Tamil Tigers and three soldiers were killed in fierce clashes between the two sides in the island's embattled north. The Malavi town in rebel stronghold of Mallaitivu in northern Sri Lanka was "liberated by the advancing troops" of 57 division following weeks of fighting, the defence ministry said in a statement here. — PTI

Indian eatery wins top award
London: Sitaaray - India's Grill, a leading eatery here that combines the two greatest Indian exports - its cinema and cuisine - has won the prestigious London Restaurant Award 2008. The judges, London's top food critics, handpicked 60 local restaurants to compete for the award and the final shortlist of six restaurants was selected by the London diners and readers of Evening Standard newspaper in an online vote. — PTI

Rare Monroe footage
Melbourne: A rare amateur footage of Hollywood legend Marilyn Monroe has surfaced and is up for auction almost 50 years after it was presumed lost. The two-and-half-minute video featuring Monroe and co-stars Tony Curtis and Jack Lemon was shot early in 1959 by a young US naval officer, who had been invited by Monroe to visit her sets at the hotel Del Coronado. The 8mm film is still in its original Kodak box. The footage will be auctioned off in Melbourne later this month. — PTI

Pulitzer Prize-winner dead
LOS ANGELES: Edwin O Guthman (89), a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, who was on the infamous “enemies list” prepared by aides of president Richard Nixon and served as press secretary to Robert F Kennedy died on Sunday at his Pacific Palisades home. Guthman was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting in 1950 for his stories in The Seattle Times on the Washington State Legislature’s Un-American Activities Committee. — AP

UN staffers’ plane missing
KINSHASA: A small plane believed to be carrying UN staffers did not land as scheduled in the Democratic Republic of Congo and officials were unsure of its whereabouts, UN sources have said. The Air Serve plane has the capacity to transport 19 passengers and was to travel a route that links the capital Kinshasa with the country’s east. It had been expected in the eastern city of Bukavu. — AFP

Lame-Duck session
Washington: Ahead of the NSG meet in Vienna, senior Congressional leaders have indicated that the House of Representatives and Senate could come back after the November 4 presidential poll for a 'Lame-Duck' session to clear pending business, which may include the Indo-US nuclear deal. As things stand, the final session of the 110th Congress is scheduled for September 26 when the House and the Senate are due to wrap up business. — PTI