Zardari's children vow to stand by convicted Gilani

Islamabad, April 27 (IANS) Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari's daughters have promised to "stand by" Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani who was convicted Thursday for contempt of court.

Zardari's youngest daughter Aseefa turned to Twitter to say: "Proud of our PM Gilani and will always stand by him".

Later, she re-tweeted: "If money laundering cases could not be proved in the courts of Pakistan, how could we do it?' asked Danniel Zappelli the AG of Geneva."

Gilani had refused to act on the court's directives to write a letter to Swiss authorities to reopen corruption cases against Zardari, arguing that the president enjoys immunity under the Pakistani constitution.

Accused of graft, Zardari had been granted amnesty under the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) in 2007 by then president Pervez Musharraf to facilitate his return home and, primarily that of his wife, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

Aseefa's elder sister Bakhtawar tweeted: "Compare now with past governments who... either sacked the CJ or organised party supporters to storm the Court, shutting down proceedings".

Another tweet by her assured that there was no clash between the civil leadership and the judiciary.

"...Despite the best efforts of some in the media to portray it differently, the government was never at war with the Court," she said.

The president has three children - Aseefa, 18, Bakhtawar, 21, and Bilawal, 23. While the two sisters are not actively in politics, Bilawal was appointed chairperson of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) soon after his mother's assassination in December 2007.