Former aide in political showdown with ex-Pak prez Zardari

A standoff between ex-Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari and his former political aide today rocked his party's government in the southern Sindh province as police tried to arrest the PPP chief's erstwhile confidant.
Heavy contingents of armed police tried to enter but had to withdraw from the farmhouse of Zulfiqar Mirza near Badin town after the former Sindh home minister made a fresh round of allegations against Zardari, co-chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
Mirza, a controversial figure who was once considered very close to Zardari and enjoyed absolute power as home minister, recently returned home from exile and has alleged that the former president is a "mentally sick person" and a "sadist" and has amassed illicit wealth by using his power to threaten and silence his opponents.

Last week, things came to a head when Mirza who belongs to Badin stormed a police station in the area and freed an arrested aide.
Today, the police converged on Mirza's farmhouse to apparently arrest him but failed to do so.
Mirza's wife, former speaker of the national assembly Fehmida Mirza also accused the Sindh government of persecuting him and his supporters saying she feared that the government would try to arrest her husband.
The ruling party at the centre, Premier Nawaz Sharif's PML-N has so far distanced itself from the developments in Sindh which has historically been the political stronghold of the PPP.