(27 Jan 2006)
1. Medium shot of Benazir Bhutto, former Prime Minister of Pakistan, rising from chair and walking to podium (Asif Ali Zardari, her husband, seated next to her on the stage)
2. Wide pan of audience from back of room to front
3. Wide shot of Benazir Bhutto talking from the podium, her husband Asif Ali Zardari seated on the stage
4. Tight shot of Asif Ali Zardari on the stage
5. SOUNDBITE: (English) Benazir Bhutto, Former Prime Minister of Pakistan
Q: Are you saying that the corruption charges against both you and your husband are completely groundless?
"Yes, I'm saying that... and I'm saying we faced them for nine years and there's not a single conviction for corruption against us. There's a single conviction for absenting myself from a court in Pakistan which I have challenged and said I did not absent myself. I was present through my defence attorney and the government of General Musharraf has not let that petition be heard, because if it is proved that I was not absented from the court... then it means I'm a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan and banning me from the National Assembly was wrong."
6. Tight shot of audience member
7. Wide shot from the stage of Benazir Bhutto at the podium
8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Benazir Bhutto, Former Prime Minister of Pakistan
"I left with the permission of the courts... and my lawyer has written to the Ministry of Interior and said which court has asked for her to be present? You tell us which court has allowed her to be present and she will present herself. So I would request your support in putting this question to the government of Pakistan... that (of) which court requires her present and on which day, because Madame Bhutto will be back there for that hearing."
9. Wide shot of Benazir Bhutto leaving podium
STORYLINE:
Former Pakistani Prime Minster Benazir Bhutto said on Thursday that an international notice seeking her arrest on corruption charges is an act of "state-sponsored persecution" by a military dictator.
Bhutto, who leads the opposition Pakistan People's Party, told an audience at Voice of America that her lawyer was seeking details of the Interpol notices, which she said she learned of through the press.
During a question-and-answer session Bhutto repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, maintaining that the charges were politically motivated.
After the notices were announced, Bhutto said Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999, ordered the Interpol "red notices" to divert attention from domestic questions about the government's alleged role in a Jan. 13 U.S. missile strike that killed at least 13 civilians.
Pakistan has condemned the airstrikes, saying Washington failed to notify Islamabad of the attempt to take out a leader of the al-Qaida terror group.
Bhutto suggested that critics in Pakistan were questioning whether Musharraf knew of the strikes in advance, and that was why the Interpol notices were pursued.
Interpol officials said it was up to member countries to decide what, if any, action to take about the notices. A U.S. Justice Department official would not comment on the matter on Thursday.
Pakistan's Interior Minister said the government's anti-corruption body had asked Interpol to issue the notices for Bhutto and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, both of whom are wanted in Pakistan in connection with several graft cases.
Zardari was released on bail last year after spending eight years in detention on corruption charges in what had been seen as a move toward rapprochement between Bhutto and Musharraf.
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