Asif Ali Zardari
December 31, 2007 at 2:44AM
Benazir Bhutto's husband, who took effective control of his slain wife's party on Sunday, is a former Cabinet minister who spent eight years in prison on corruption charges and is known as "Mr. 10 Percent" for allegedly taking kickbacks.
Asif Ali Zardari, 54, is generally blamed for many of Bhutto's political misfortunes, with her twice being forced out of the prime minister's office over allegations of corruption and misrule. He was jailed for the first time in 1990 on charges ranging from murder to bank fraud when the first government Bhutto led as prime minister was dismissed. He was released in 1993 and acquitted of the charges.
Zardari became investment minister in Bhutto's second government. He got his nickname for allegedly skimming off commissions on government contracts. He was jailed a second time in 1996 over corruption allegations and alleged involvement in an attack on Bhutto's brother, Murtaza, who died in a shootout near his home in Karachi.
Zardari was freed in December 2004 and left Pakistan to live with his family in the United Arab Emirates. Zardari suffers from ailments including a heart problem and back pain that his aides say he developed because of prolonged imprisonment.
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