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Bhutto's appeals for contesting polls rejected

A Pakistani election tribunal on Friday rejected former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's appeals against her disqualification for the October 10 general election.

The tribunal, comprising of two high court judges, upheld the decision of the returning officers to reject her nomination papers from three constituencies from her native southern Sindh province.

"The appeals are rejected," the tribunal said in a short judgment.

Hundreds of policemen and thousands of supporters of Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party had gathered outside the Sindh high court building in Karachi.

The police arrested more than a dozen supporters from outside the courtroom, as the judgment resulted in angry protests.

Some PPP supporters managed to push past police cordons into the court premises, but not the courtroom.

An anti-corruption court on Thursday had sentenced Bhutto's jailed husband Asif Zardari to seven years' imprisonment along with Rs40 million fine in a corruption case.

Zardari was accused of taking kickbacks to the tune of Rs32 million while awarding a government contract.

He has been in prison since 1996.

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