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Sharief's trial 'depends on nature of charges'

A spokesman for Pakistan's military regime on Tuesday said the nature of incriminating evidence against deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief will determine his trial in a civilian or a military court.

Sharief's trial 'depends on the nature of charges' against him, Brigadier Rashid Qureshi, head of the Inter-Services Intelligence public relations department, said at a press briefing.

The spokesman did not rule out Sharief's trial at a military court.

''There are still many areas being looked into before drawing conclusions,'' Qureshi said.

He said Sharief and all those arrested after the coup were 'being treated well'.

The spokesman did not say where Sharief was being held. But local news reports say he has been moved to the Attock Fort, about 90 kilometres southwest of Islamabad, maintained by the army and notorious for rigorous conditions for those detained there.

''Most of those who were taken into protective custody have been released,'' said the spokesman who could not give a timeframe for the investigations being completed against those still being detained.

Qureshi said a probe has started into the charge against Sharief that he disallowed a plane with General Pervez Musharraf aboard to land in Karachi.

General Musharraf, who has proclaimed himself as Pakistan's chief executive, has accused Sharief of conspiring to kill him in a plane crash.

''The chief executive is not interested in the mere label of democracy but the substance of democracy for which action will be taken,'' Qureshi explained to a question on international pressure on Pakistan over its military rule.

''Pakistan needs to put its house in order to survive and progress. The chief executive is striving for a mechanism by which we can achieve these objectives,'' he said.

UNI

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