Pakistan's PM Found Guilty Of Contempt

Pakistan's prime minister Yousef Raza Gilani has been found guilty of contempt of court, state television has reported.

The PM was charged for refusing to obey an order to write to the authorities in Switzerland to ask them to re-open corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

After convicting Gilani, the judge gave him a symbolic sentence of a few minutes' detention in the courtroom, sparing him from serving time in prison.

But the fact that the politician has been found guilty means he could face disqualification in the weeks or months to come.

The case against Gilani dates back to an amnesty - known as the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) - which was put in place in 2007 by then-president General Pervez Musharraf at the end of his military rule.

The NRO was designed to enable Benazir Bhutto to return to Pakistan from exile to contest democratic elections in 2008 without the fear of prosecution for alleged corruption.

The amnesty also gave her husband Mr Zardari protection from the same charges of money laundering using Swiss bank accounts.

He became president on a wave of public sympathy following the assassination of his wife, as she campaigned before the vote in December 2007.

But in 2009 the supreme court overturned NRO on the grounds that it was unconstitutional.

According to the country's top judges it meant the old cases against Mr Zardari had to be re-opened, and as prime minister, it was Gilani's duty to enforce the supreme court's decision.

However, having failed to do so, Gilani was indicted for contempt of court.