More details about Surrey Mansion deal /NATION..Dec_26_96
Hassan Naqvi
NATION Lahore
DEc 24, 1996
More details about Surrey Mansion deal
By Our Monitoring Desk
More details about the secret purchase of 355-acre mansion in Surrey,
Britain, by the deposed Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and her spouse, Asif
Ali Zardari have come to light.
The PTV during its news bulletin on Monday showed some documents which
indicate that the former ruling couple had secretly purchased the
Surrey Mansion which is ten times larger than the Shahi Fort of Lahore
built by the Mughals.
The Surrey Mansion deal was first reported by the British daily Sunday
Express on June 9, this year.
A newspapers with a circulation of over 1.37 million and readership of
four million, the Sunday Express carried the story under the headline
'Bhutto's
Surrey Retreat.'
The newspaper reported that Benazir and Zardari bought the Mansion at a
cost of £2.5 million, about Rs 17.5 crore. It said the Surrey Mansion has
a
private landing strip and indoor swimming pool. The security system of the
Mansion is linked directly to Scotland Yard.
The daily Dawn of Karachi giving the details of the Surrey Mansion
reported on June 16, this year, that shipments had been flown into England
by
PIA from Bilawal House and were destined for Surrey Mansion.
These included items such as antique guns and decoration pieces. These
items were booked under airways bill number 21401635012. The wooden
cases were booked from Bilawal House, Karachi to Wajid Shamsul Hasan,
Pakistan's High Commissioner in London.
Weighing about 3450 kgs, 3.5 tons, the items were sent free of charge
indicating that these were meant for Surrey Mansion. When the cartons
arrived in London, a declaration for the release of cargo was entered with
the British Customs authority by Pakistan High Commissioner.
According to details, Wajid also wrote a letter to Cargo Manager, PIA,
London, authorising one Paul to collect on behalf of High Commissioner,
the
goods that had arrived at London.
These cartons were released to Paul. The release note also gave Paul
surname as Keating. Another consignment of 13 cartons weighing 5410 kgs
was sent via PIA by one Sarosh Yaqoob Mehdi under airways bill number
2141629736. The consignee of the cargo was Paul, a resident of London.
The evidences and documents received by PTV irrefutably establish Benazir
Bhutto's link with Surrey Mansion. Paul who received the
consignments, is, in fact, Paul Keating who is director and shareholder of
a private company.
It is reported that the company received invoices from the firm which had
been hired to do work at Rockwood House, commonly known as Surrey
Mansion.
The telephone record also clearly shows that the calls were made from the
Rockwood House to telephone numbers in Pakistan being used by Asif
Ali Zardari and Javed Pasha, one of his cronies. This again establishes
the link between the former Prime Minister and her spouse with Rockwood
House.
The Opposition in the dissolved National Assembly agitated a number of
times over the purchase of Surrey Mansion. The Opposition also filed
references with the Speaker for the disqualification of Benazir and
Zardari for purchasing a property in Surrey.
It is mentioned here that Zardari had taken no legal action against
Sunday Express.
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Hassan Haider Naqvi
Gorsi
In article <59ulri$h...@mtinsc01-mgt.ops.worldnet.att.net>,
Hassan Naqvi <H-...@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>NATION Lahore
>DEc 24, 1996
>
>More details about Surrey Mansion deal
>By Our Monitoring Desk
>More details about the secret purchase of 355-acre mansion in Surrey,
I think it is more like the 2.5 Tons of Gold seized from Zardari.
Why are they now saying there was no such seizure of gold or hefty cash.
Mohammad
>Britain, by the deposed Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and her spouse, Asif
>Ali Zardari have come to light.
(deleted)
Saif Al-Shirawi
I think the Pakistan Government should confiscate Surrey Mansion
along with all the other assets of the Corrupt Couple [tm]. Then
the Dirty Duo [tm] should be locked up with the key thrown into
the Arabian Sea.
Saif Al-Shirawi.