Approver alleges pressure
4 more want to depose against Sharif

ISLAMABAD, Nov 27 (UNI) — Pakistan's former Director-General of Civil Aviation Aminullah Chowdhary has reportedly said that he turned approver in the PIA hijacking case, in which deposed Premier Nawaz Sharif is one of the accused, because of "terrible pressure" brought on him.

The mental pressure he was subjected to would have led him to suicide, Mr Chowdhary was quoted as saying.

The daily News said Mr Chowdhary could be tried if he backed out of the deal he had entered into with the prosecution.

Mr Chowdhary had deposed before a Karachi court that Mr Sharif had ordered him not to let the PIA flight carrying army chief Pervez Musharraf and 200 others to land at the Karachi airport.

A US-based human rights group has said Mr Sharif could get a fair trial under the present anti-terrorism law.

The law, which was ironically enacted by Mr Sharif's government to control violence, had been used selectively against political opponents earlier by Mr Sharif and now by the military regime, Director-General of Human Rights Watch (Asia) Mike Jendrzejezyk said.

He said the law infringed on civil liberties and due process of law and urged the present regime in Islamabad to amend it so that Mr Sharif's trial could confirm to "international fair standards".

Meanwhile, four more accused in the high-profile criminal conspiracy case have offered to depose against ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in return for a pardon, the daily Jang reported.

Former Information Minister Mushahid Hussain, ex-PIA chief Shahid Abbasi, Mr Sharif's former personal secretary Saeed Mehdi and former Sindh IG Rana Maqbool have approached the authorities to turn approver in the October 12 criminal conspiracy case, the paper reported yesterday, quoting highly placed sources in the new military government.

Mr Mehdi had promised total co-operation in the investigations through a close confidant in the chief executives secretariat in return for personal safety, the report said.

Investigations in fresh cases of compromising on the national interest, undermining the unity of the armed forces and planned assaults on the economy and national institutions were in the final stages of completion, the report said.

Meanwhile, the government has given the go-ahead for filing of criminal cases against eight more members of the Sharif family. The cases are likely to be registered in the next two days. No charges are being brought against the former premier’s father, Mian Sharif.

Meanwhile, the deposed Prime Minister has requested better facilities in the Karachi district jail where he is being kept. The application for Class — A facilities was made yesterday by Mr Sharif's counsel on grounds that he had served as Prime Minister twice.

The special cell in which Mr Sharif has been lodged has been home to another former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and her husband Asif Zardari at different times. It is sparsely furnished and is lighted by a solitary bulb. Electrical switches and the fan regulator were shifted outside the room when it was being readied for Mr Sharif. The deposed Prime Minister also does not have access to newspapers, radio and television.

The matter will come up for hearing in the anti-terrorism court of judge Rehmat Hussain Jaffri on Monday.