Zardari may leave Pakistan after completing term as President

Asif Ali Zardari is expected to leave Pakistan after completing his term as President on September 8 due to security threats and fears about the reopening of graft cases, according to a media report today.

Zardari's friends have advised him to leave Pakistan because of "serious threats to his life", the report on the website of the Dawn newspaper quoted sources close to the President as saying.

Another "core reason" that could force Zardari to leave the country is corruption cases pending against him, the sources said. The Supreme Court has already heard a case about reopening graft cases against Zardari in Switzerland.

Zardari's legal aides are aware that presidential immunity will not be available to him once he completes his term in September.

The recent assassination in Karachi of Zardari's chief security officer Bilal Sheikh was a wake up call for the President and his family. Once Zardari steps down as President, extensive security will not be provided to him and this could leave him and his family "extremely vulnerable", the report said.

Earlier, Khalid Shahenshah, the chief security officer of Zardari's private residence in Karachi, was killed outside his home in 2008. In 2011, Imran Jangi, another prominent security officer of the Bhutto family, was gunned down in Karachi.

"Look at the President's public appearances in the last five years. Very rare. He prefers to live in his bunker. Now after losing all presidential privileges he will not stay in Pakistan," said an unnamed Pakistan People's Party leader.