Pakistan PM Gilani Heads for UK Amid Severe Court Rap

Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani kicked off a five-day visit to the United Kingdom amid a huge uproar back home about his indictment.

Gilani will be attending the First Annual Review Meeting of the Enhanced Strategic Dialogue in the UK and will also be meeting British Prime Minister David Cameron. The UK and Pakistan formally launched the dialogue in April 2011 during the visit of Cameron to Islamabad.

Addressing reporters before leaving Islamabad, Gilani insisted that the promotion of strategic dialogue is a key component of his visit.

Gilani added that the talks would focus on cooperation in investment, trade, culture, health and education sectors.

International issues including Afghanistan are also on the agenda.

"Pakisitan is keen to strengthen its trade ties with the UK with the objective of taking bilateral trade to 2.5 million pounds in two to three years," the Press Trust of India quoted Gilani as saying.

Gilani also acknowledged the fact that the UK is Pakistan's second largest trading parter in the EU and said the country would provide 650 million pounds for enhancement of education in Pakistan.

Gilani is being accompanied by a team of officials including Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and Interior Minister Rehman Malik.

Gilani will also be meeting other top officials in the UK, but cancelled his Birmingham address to a community gathering due to security concerns.

As soon as Gilani boarded his aircraft for the visit, the Supreme Court extended its condemnation of Gilani in the contempt of court case.

The 77-page detailed verdict may even lead to the disqualification of his membership in parliament, reports suggest.

The Supreme Court said that Prime Minister Gilani "willfully, deliberately and persistently defied" a clear direction of the highest court in the country.

"We are, therefore, fully satisfied that such clear and persistent defiance at such high level constitutes contempt which is substantially detrimental to the administration of justice and tends not only to bring this court but also brings the judiciary of this country into ridicule," the court observed.

Recently, Gilani was convicted of failing to reopen corruption charges against President Asif Ali Zardari and was punished only symbolically for a few seconds.