'PM Ashraf cannot write to Swiss authorities'

The federal government has submitted its reply in the NRO implementation case on Tuesday. The federal government in its reply - submitted by Attorney General Irfan Qadir - stated that the Prime Minister follows the decisions of the federal cabinet and it has so far not advised him to write letter to the Swiss authorities for reopening of the cases. Therefore the letter to the Swiss authorities cannot be written. The reply prays to the apex court to review its July 12 judgment in which it had asked the Attorney General to apprise the Prime Minister about the court orders in respect of writing of letter to the Swiss authorities. The Supreme Court will resume hearing of the NRO implementation case on July 25. The judiciary has been trying for years to force the federal government to reopen multi-million-dollar corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari. After dismissing prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on June 19, it gave Raja Pervaiz Ashraf two weeks to indicate whether he would write to the Swiss authorities to reopen the cases which were shelved in 2008 when Zaradri became president. The allegations against Zardari date back to the 1990s, when he and his late wife, former premier Benazir Bhutto, are suspected of using Swiss bank accounts to launder $12 million allegedly paid in bribes by companies seeking customs inspection contracts. The government insists the president has full immunity. But in 2009 the court overturned a political amnesty that froze investigations into the president and other politicians, ordering that the cases be reopened.