LONDON: Describing Pakistan President-elect Asif Ali Zardari as one of the "dangerous" men in the subcontinent," Jemima, the estranged wife of cricket icon Imran Khan, has said his behaviour in the run-up to his election proves "he still can't be trusted".

The 53-year-old Pakistan People Party co-Chairman's elevation to the highest constitutional post has turned the tables for the wily politician who foxed his way to the top after being incarcerated for over a decade on charges ranging from corruption to murder.

"Mad and bad. And now omnipotent. He is head of state, supreme commander of the armed forces, has the power to dismiss parliament, appoint the heads of the army and election commission and, as chairman of the National Command Authority, has the final say in the deployment of nuclear weapons," Jemima said.

Zardari, who has spent more years behind the bars than in politics, defied his critics by rising to occupy the top post despite his tainted past.

The British socialite said Zardari, once dubbed as Mr. 10 per cent "has become one of the most powerful and potentially dangerous men in the subcontinent".

"Even if Zardari is given the benefit of the doubt and has changed after his wife's assassination and his many years in jail, his behaviour in the run-up to his election as President proves he still can't be trusted," Jemima wrote in an article in The Independent newspaper today. "Earlier Zardari vowed to relinquish the executive powers that Pervez Musharraf gave to the originally ceremonial presidency. Now he's evasive," she wrote, of "the man who now has his finger on the nuclear button".

Source : PTI