Three years hard labor for Bhutto

Bhutto, in self-imposed exile, still has a strong power base in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- A Pakistani court has sentenced former prime minister Benazir Bhutto to three years of hard labor for corruption.

The self-exiled Bhutto was tried in absentia by a court in Rawalpindi for receiving kickbacks for granting a license to a gold company when she was prime minister in 1994.

She was charged with awarding a "monopolistic" gold import contract to ARY Traders, leading to a loss of $10 million to the national exchequer, the court said.

Judge Mansur Ali Khan also ordered Bhutto's "immovable" assets, such as land and houses in Pakistan, to be seized and issued warrants for her arrest if she returns to the country.

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Unless overturned by a higher court, the conviction automatically disqualifies Bhutto from holding public office.

Bhutto, who heads the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), recently hinted she might return to the country to contest legislative elections set for October.

Fear of arrest

Bhutto was ousted in 1996 after a corruption scandal and has lived abroad since early 1999 -- in the United Arab Emirates and Britain -- for fear of being arrested on corruption allegations she denies.

She and her husband were found guilty of corruption by Pakistan's High Court in April 1999 and sentenced to five-year jail terms, fined and disqualified from politics for seven years.

The same Rawalpindi court handed down two prison sentences last year for not appearing to face two other disputed corruption charges.

Bhutto's latest conviction comes three days after Pakistan's military ruler General Pervez Musharraf issued a decree effectively barring her and her one-time rival Nawaz Sharif from ever becoming prime minister again for having held the office twice.

Musharraf also proposed other constitutional changes that would give him sweeping powers to dictate the country's affairs.

Power bases

Bhutto has denied the corruption allegations

Under Musharraf's reforms, Bhutto would be ineligible to stand not only because of the corruption conviction, but also because of a ban on prime ministers who have held the post for two terms.

Musharraf ousted Bhutto's successor Sharif in a bloodless coup in 1999. While he too is in exile, in Saudi Arabia, both former premiers still command significant power bases in the country.

Bhutto's PPP and Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League have since joined hands in the 15-party Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy to oppose military rule.

Musharraf has promised the elections will return the country to democracy, but critics say a raft of electoral reforms he proposes will ensure he retains his hold on power.