ISLAMABAD, 23 January 2008 — Opposition leaders Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari could be arrested if they lose an amnesty from corruption cases early next month.

Attorney General Malik Qayyum told reporters here yesterday that the National Reconciliation Ordinance that was decreed by President Pervez Musharraf and under which the corruption cases against the two were kept in abeyance would expire Feb. 5, days before Pakistan goes to the polls on Feb. 18.

With the removal of this amnesty, old corruption case against Sharif and Zardari will be deemed to be active and they could be arrested. Both had sought bail from the courts before the ordinance came into effect on Oct. 5, 2007.

The two leaders are not contesting the forthcoming general election but their parties — Zardari’s Pakistan People’s Party and Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League — are the frontrunners.

The two parties have refused to enter into a new arrangement with Musharraf. The president sent his envoy Brig. Niaz Ahmed to meet with Sharif’s brother Shahbaz in London but he met with little success. Musharraf’s effort to communicate with Zardari in Dubai through Attorney General Qayyum also yielded no result. Against this backdrop, the federal government has decided to withdraw the ordinance.