ISLAMABAD: Close associates of Zardari strongly rejected the story published in the Financial Times raising doubts about the mental health of PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari.

They said the PPP co-chairman had suffered tremendous physical and mental abuse during his incarceration that might have its temporary affects on him. But, they added, Zardari had recovered from it and even forgiven those who perpetrated crimes against his person.

The Financial Times also quoted Pakistan High Commissioner to UK, Wajid Shamsul Hassan, saying as "You have got to understand that while he was in prison on charges that were never proven, there were attempts to kill him."

"At that time, 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." On August 25 the Financial Times while referring to the documents filed by doctors reported that 'Asif Ali Zardari, the leading contender for the presidency of nuclear-armed Pakistan, was suffering from severe psychiatric problems as recently as last year.'

"Asif Zardari was diagnosed with a range of serious illnesses including dementia, major depressive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder in a series of medical reports spanning more than two years."

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

The doctor wrote to the court that he did not foresee any improvement in the mental health issues regarding Zardari for at least a year. Stephen Reich, a New York state-based psychologist, has also been reported by the daily as 'Mr Zardari was unable to remember the birthdays of his wife and children, was persistently apprehensive and had thought about suicide.'

"Mr Zardari 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, court records show," reported the English daily.

The spokesman of Zardari House says that it was a tactic to demoralise the PPP workers and the nation as a whole. Dr Jamil Soomro, a personal aide of Zardari, talking to The News said that it was a conspiracy being hatched by 'certain quarters' that did not want Asif Ali Zardari to become President of Pakistan. He said that the timing of such non-issues was calculated and manipulated.

To a question, Soomro replied that the medical documents might have been obtained from the foreign courts and no one from Pakistan had leaked the documents. He said that the reporters of the said report may have contacted the foreign doctors and it was a strong possibility that the story was written in London.

Ms Farahnaz Ispahani, a PPP MNA, said that the politics of personal vilification against both Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari has been rejected by the people of Pakistan time and again.

"The story published in the Financial Times is a part of another dirty campaign against the PPP," said the lady adding: "Asif Ali Zardari is in good health today." PPP sources said Zardari has proved by his politics that he was not only in very sound mental health but had developed sharp political reflexes and no one having a sound mind could accuse him of mental health deficits.

SANA adds: News of Zardari's medical records came as Nawaz Sharif pulled his party out of the ruling coalition at the centre. The case -- brought to seize some of his UK assets -- was dropped in March, at about the same time that corruption charges in Pakistan were dismissed. However, the court papers raise questions about Zardari's ability to help guide one of the world's most strategically important countries following the resignation last week of Pervez Musharraf, under whose rule corruption cases against the PPP leader and his late wife, Benazir Bhutto, were pursued.

Zardari and Bhutto were also the target of corruption investigations in Switzerland and Spain. The Geneva prosecutor said on Monday that money-laundering charges against Zardari were being dropped.

Hasan, a long-standing political ally and friend of the Zardari/Bhutto family, told the Financial Times on Monday that Zardari had subsequent medical examinations and his doctors had "declared him medically fit to run for political office and free of any symptoms".

"You have got to understand that while he was in prison on charges that were never proven, there were attempts to kill him," Hasan said. "At that time, 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.

"In fact, many people were very impressed to see Mr Zardari go through the trauma of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, but still hold himself together, hold his family, especially his children, close to him at this very difficult time."