Sharif accuses Zardari of trying to get him barred from polls

Setting the stage for a possible showdown with his former ally, Pakistan's opposition PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif has accused President Asif Ali Zardari of trying to get him disqualified from contesting polls through cases in the Supreme Court.

Former Premier Sharif cautioned Zardari against conspiracies aimed at getting him and his brother Shahbaz disqualified from contesting polls.

"I don't want to name anyone but Zardari should not insult us through a governor or try to get us disqualified (from contesting polls) through cases in the Supreme Court," he told thousands of cheering supporters at a meeting of his party's general council at Raiwind in Lahore on Saturday.

Sharif and his brother Shahbaz, Chief Minister of Punjab, have been engaged in a war of words with the province's Governor, Salman Taseer, who is a close aide of Zardari.

A case related to the Sharif brothers' eligibility to contest polls has been dragging in the Supreme Court for the past few months.

Sharif was barred from contesting last year's general election and subsequent by-polls because he was convicted in a criminal case filed against him after his government was deposed by former army chief Gen Pervez Musharraf in 1999.

First Published: Feb 22, 2009 14:50 IST