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Ex-Pak PM Bhutto decries "corruption" in military

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Islamabad, March 27, IRNA -- Pakistan`s Former Prime Minister Benazir 
Bhutto Saturday expressed shock at the reports of a forty billion 
rupees massive corruption scandal within the army which was tabled 
to the Parliament following an audit report. 
"The massive corruption was carried out with impunity under the 
nose of the National Accountability Bureau who chose to ignore it as 
they have ignored a series of other corruption cases," charged 
Bhutto, who is also chairperson of the Pakistan People`s Party. 
Saying that Pakistan needs good governance and an end to 
corruption, nepotism and abuse of office, she added it was high time 
that NAB, which she claimed is an "employment bureau for retired 
military officials", be repealed and the FIA empowered to deal with 
the corruption cases while Parliament acts as a watch dog on its 
activities as done in other countries. 
She called for amendments to the law allowing the FIA to 
investigate crimes against all people, whether in uniform or out who 
had committed corrupt acts. 
In a statement, she said that audit reports of Pakistan Army tabled
in the National Assembly on Monday detailing "financial and 
administrative irregularities" to tune of Rs 40 billion rupees in the 
defense budget in 2001-2002, had raised fundamental questions about 
the accountability. 
"The Auditor General of Pakistan in his reports has said that 
"violation of rules, procedures, regulations and weak internal 
financial control over spending" was common in the Army while spending
public funds. 
The reports of irregularities cover the accounts of defense 
services, controllers military accounts, special audit report of GE 
(Army services), special audit of DW&CE (Air and DW&CE (Army) and 
cantonment boards. Rest of the army budget has not been audited. 
Recalling that in October 1999 the current regime promised 
"horizontal and vertical accountability of all across the board", she 
charged that, "during the last four years accountability remained 
confined to a handful of the top leadership of the two main parties 
while corrupt practices continue unabashedly". 
According to Bhutto, with the forty billion rupees, entire 
unemployment of Pakistan could be wiped out with developmental 
projects as it was such a huge amount. 
She said that it was an eye opener that the military generals 
topped the list of corrupt in the year 2001-02, as revealed in the 
audit reports. 
TK/TSH/212 
End