Pak envoy to UK declares Zardari "fit and well"

Lahore, Aug 27 : Reacting to the recent press reports appearing in the British media that PPP Co-chairman and presidential hopeful Asif Ali Zardari had suffered from mental illness till last year, Pakistan's High Commissioner to London Wajid Shamsul Hasan has stated that Zardari was now "fit and keeping well".

Wajid said that Zardari had subsequent medical examinations and his doctors had "declared him medically fit to run for political office and free of any symptoms."

"While he was in prison ... he was surrounded by fear all the time. Any human being living in such a condition will, of course, suffer from the effects of continuous fear. But, that is all history," the Daily Times quoted the envoy as saying.

British media reports had yesterday cited some court documents filed by Zardari's doctors as saying that he was suffering from severe psychiatric problems as recently as last year.

The reports further said that Zardari was diagnosed with serious illnesses including dementia, major depressive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder in medical reports spanning over two years.

In court documents, New York-based psychiatrist Philip Saltiel had said in March 2007 that Zardari's imprisonment had left him "suffering from emotional instability and memory and concentration problems".

Stephen Reich, another New York-based psychologist, said that Zardari was unable to remember the birthdays of his wife and children, was persistently apprehensive and had thought about suicide.

Court records showed that Zardari had used the medical diagnoses to argue successfully for the postponement of a now-defunct English High Court case in which Pakistan's government was suing him over alleged corruption.

ANI