He was thrust into the centre of politics when Ms Bhutto was assassinated 20 years later. Since then and now his career has veered from being imprisoned for corruption - complaining that he was tortured when behind bars - to taking the country's top job by leading the PPP to victory in general elections after his wife's death.
Perhaps the high point of his political life came in when he played a pivotal role with former political enemies to force President Pervez Musharraf to resign. But he has also been the subject of unfavourable scrutiny - in he was widely criticised for visiting Europe at the height of some of the worst floods to hit Pakistan in recent years. Both Mr Haqqani and the president were accused of drafting a controversial memo in which they allegedly sought US military help against a possible military coup in Pakistan.
They denied the charges. But his political struggles today are still a far cry from the period before Ms Bhutto's death, when Mr Zardari's public image was so bad that the PPP kept him out of the public eye as much as possible during the campaigning for national elections in February He spent several years in jail on charges of corruption.
He found himself in major trouble in when he was accused, among other things, of tying a remote-controlled bomb to the leg of a businessman and sending him into a bank to withdraw money from his account as a pay-off. Those charges were never proved. In , when then President Ghulam Ishaq Khan sacked the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Mr Zardari was escorted from the prison straight to the presidency where he was sworn in as a minister in the interim government.
In , when another president sacked the PPP government, he was arrested and charged with a number of offences including the murder of Mir Murtaza Bhutto, his wife's brother. He was later charged, along with his wife, and convicted in a kickbacks scam involving a Swiss company, SGS.
But a mistrial was declared by Pakistan's Supreme Court following a major scandal involving the accountability bureau and the judge who had issued the verdict. Investigators say fake bank accounts were used to funnel billions of rupees. Dozens of companies and hundreds of people have been implicated in the scandal, according to Pakistani media reports. Mr Zardari denies wrongdoing in this latest "fake accounts" case, which has been under investigation since He and his sister, lawmaker Faryal Talpur, had their interim bail extended multiple times before Monday's decision.
Both attended court earlier on Monday under tight security conditions, but Ms Talpur has not yet been taken into custody.
Pakistan's interior minister, Ejaz Shah, told parliament on Monday that the government had no role in Mr Zardari's arrest. A party spokesman has appealed for PPP supporters to remain peaceful. Mr Zardari has only been arrested, not convicted yet, but the move will be a blow for the PPP party he jointly leads and the wider political opposition.
The current government lead by Prime Minister Imran Khan, were elected on a strident anti-corruption platform, but they will be keen not to be seen as interfering in the case against Mr Zardari. Zardari landed at Karachi's Jinnah International Airport yesterday afternoon and later addressed a huge rally criticising Prime Minister Sharif.
The PPP chief abruptly left the country last year after lashing out at the military establishment for overstepping its domain. Have you read these stories? Def Min formally lifts ban on Italian firms Updated: Nov 14, , ET NOW. Brand Solutions. Video series featuring innovators. ET Financial Inclusion Summit. Malaria Mukt Bharat. Wealth Wise Series How they can help in wealth creation. Honouring Exemplary Boards. Deep Dive Into Cryptocurrency.
ET Markets Conclave — Cryptocurrency. Reshape Tomorrow Tomorrow is different. Let's reshape it today. Corning Gorilla Glass TougherTogether. ET India Inc. ET Engage. ET Secure IT. Pakistan: Former President Asif Ali Zardari arrested in fake bank accounts case Pakistan's former president Asif Ali Zardari was arrested on Monday from his residence here in the fake bank accounts case by the country's top anti-corruption body, officials said.
Asif Ali Zardari produced before court, anti-graft body seeks physical remand Zardari's arrest prompted a strong reaction from the Opposition and sporadic protests by PPP workers in various parts of the country, mostly in the party-ruled Sindh province.
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