A Pakistani court dismissed five corruption cases against the widower of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto yesterday, his lawyer said, in a major step towards clearing the way for him to hold government office. Bhutto?s husband, Asif Ali Zardari, led her Pakistan People?s Party (PPP) to election victory on February 18 and is now negotiating with other parties on a coalition government.

«The accountability court has terminated five references against Mr Zardari and they stand withdrawn,» Zardari?s lawyer, Farooq Naik, told Reuters, referring to the charges. «All orders about confiscation and seizure of his property have also been terminated,» he said.

Naik said there were two more cases pending against Zardari and a court was due to hear them on March 12. Zardari did not stand in last month?s election, in which the PPP rode a wave of sympathy after Bhutto?s assassination on December 27. The party won the most seats in parliament, though not enough to rule alone.

Pakistanis convicted of a crime are barred from standing for election and while Zardari has never been convicted, corruption cases have been hanging over him, raising doubts about his future. A party spokeswoman said the court decision was a «victory of truth and rightness».

«These cases were always used as a bargaining chip by our opponents but they failed to bend the resolve of our leadership. They failed to prove any of the charges. It has vindicated our stance,» said the spokeswoman, Farzana Raja.

A prime minister and cabinet members must be elected to parliament, although Zardari has said he would not try to become prime minister. The PPP is meeting on Thursday and is expected to announce its candidate for prime minister. Asked if Zardari would stand in a by-election, Raja said: «It will purely be his own decision.»

Zardari, 51, was a minister in Bhutto?s second government before it was dismissed in 1996 over corruption accusations. Both Bhutto and Zardari denied corruption accusations which they said were politically motivated. Zardari spent 11 years in jail on various charges. The government withdrew all corruption cases against Bhutto after her assassination.

Naik said a high court in Bhutto?s home province of Sindh had also ordered the government on Tuesday to withdraw all cases against Zardari in foreign countries within two weeks. Both Bhutto and Zardari faced corruption cases in Switzerland and Spain.

Bhutto spent eight years in self-imposed exile but returned to Pakistan in October after President Pervez Musharraf introduced an amnesty for her and some other politicians as part of efforts to secure a power-sharing deal. Last week, a court in the city of Lahore acquitted the brother of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a case of unlawful killing, paving the way for him to contest a by-election.

Both Sharif brothers, Nawaz, the Prime minister whom Musharraf ousted in a 1999 coup, and his politician brother, Shahbaz, were barred for legal reasons from standing in the election.

<B>Zeeshan HAIDER </B>