In a fresh salvo against beleaguered President Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's ruling PPP chief has accused him of "misappropriating" a whopping $700 million of American aid to Islamabad for supporting the war on terror and said "rogue" ISI members could have benefitted from it.
The serious
allegation levelled by Asif Ali Zardari against Musharraf may form a key part of the charge against 64-year-old Musharraf, expected to be announced on Monday when Pakistan parliament is recalled to start impeachment proceedings against the embattled leader.
"Our grand old Musharraf has not been passing on all the $1 billion a year that the Americans have been giving for the armed forces. The army has been getting $250 million to 300 million, reimbursement for what they do, but where's the rest?
"They claim it's been going in budget support but that's not the answer. We're talking about $700 million a year missing. The rest has been taken by 'Mush' for some scheme or other and we've got to find it," 54-year-old Zardari told the The Sunday Times.
Zardari claimed that the American aid might have gone to fund "rogue" members of the military intelligence, the ISI, who were last week accused by the US of assisting Taliban and other militant groups rather than rooting them out.
"We're looking for the money," Zardari said. "I think he (Musharraf) has a slush fund being used for this and for some activity for the future."
India and Afghanistan have also blamed the ISI for the deadly suicide attack on the Indian mission in Kabul on July 7 that left nearly 60 people dead.