Bhutto shrugs off Interpol arrest notices

WASHINGTON, Friday (AFP) - Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto shrugged off Interpol notices for her arrest and said she was prepared to return to her country to face any charges if compelled by a court.

Interpol had issued the international notices following a request by the Pakistan government for the arrest of Bhutto and her husband on corruption charges, according to officials in Islamabad.

The police body said the so-called "red notices" were not arrest warrants and that member countries could decide whether to take any action.

"As far as the red notices are concerned, I learned it from the press, and my lawyers have written to the (Pakistan) Ministry of Interior as well as to Interpol, asking them to confirm whether the news is accurate and if so, on what grounds," Bhutto told a news conference in Washington.

"As far as I am concerned, if any court wants me in Pakistan, I am prepared to catch the next plane to Pakistan," said Bhutto, 53, who led the country twice in the 1980s and 1990s as its first female premier.

Bhutto, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Dubai and London for the past seven years, said the allegations were politically motivated and intended to divert the attention of the Pakistan media from current government problems.

The US Justice Department refused to comment specifically on Bhutto's case but said it generally considered Interpol requests on a case-by-case basis.

"I wouldn't comment on the specifics of Ms Bhutto's case but generally, the government handles requests from other governments on a case-by-case basis and we make our decisions based on the unique circumstance on any case," department spokesman Bryan Sierra told AFP.

"We don't necessarily automatically have to act on them," he said.

Pakistani Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao said the country's corruption watchdog had asked his ministry to send the request to Interpol.

"It is not an issue of my evading presence in a court but no court in Pakistan to my knowledge has asked for me to be present and I believe that the Interpol has not been given the correct facts by the military regime in Pakistan," Bhutto said.

"Yes, my husband and I have faced these scurrilous, baseless and malicious and politically motivated charges for the last nine years and by the grace of God, there is not a single conviction against either my husband or myself for fraud or for corruption," she said.