Amir Khan Vs Lamont Peterson Rematch Set For May 19

LONDON: Amir Khan will fight Lamont Peterson on May 19 in Las Vegas after the Briton was granted his wish for a rematch after his controversial loss to the American last December, his promoter said on Thursday.

Khan lost his WBA super-lightweight and IBF light-welterweight belts in Lamont’s home city of Washington in December on a split decision having been docked two points by the referee for pushing.

His camp criticised the referee’s actions and were shocked by television replays showing a mystery man in a hat talking with a judge ringside, prompting the WBA to order a rematch.

The ‘mystery man’ was identified as Mustafa Ameen, who is an IBF volunteer helping cash-strapped boxers. He denied interfering with the judges’ scorecards. (Reuters)

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Reopen Zardari case, get relief: SC to Gilani

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's supreme court on Thursday promised to drop contempt proceedings against PM Yousaf Raza Gilani if he reopens graft cases against president Asif Ali Zardari.

The court had earlier summoned Gilani to appear before it on February 13 for the formal framing of contempt charges for defying its orders on writing to the Swiss authorities about accounts that Zardari had allegedly used to launder about $12 million in bribes. The PM had a day earlier appealed against the order and asked the court to suspend it.

"The money in the Swiss banks belonged to the people of Pakistan. It will not come into our pockets. If the PM writes the letter to Swiss authorities, we will end contempt proceedings," said chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudary, who heads an eight-judge bench hearing the appeal against the SC's order to frame contempt charges.

The judges insisted that the PM should have taken the initiative in reopening those cases during Thursday's proceedings. They expressed their displeasure over certain parts in the draft of the appeal. It had said it would be ironic to send to prison a democratically elected PM who had released the detained judges.

"The country's PM should have high ethical standards and that the language of the appeal gave the impression that the premier wanted to influence the court's judgment,'' the court said.

Justice Chaudhry said the court had been patient for over two years since it ordered that the matter be taken up with the Swiss. "If the PM is refusing to write a letter, he should just dismiss all the judges and appoint his party's workers in their place. We cannot understand why the prime minister is so rigidly against writing the letter," Chaudhry asked. The prime minister should not be the person to undermine any institution.''

"Forget about the letter for a minute and tell me why PM's actions are equal to contempt,'' Gilani's counsel Aitzaz Ahsan asked the bench. "I will prove that the premier has not taken any illegal action and acted as per rules. My client should get the benefit of the doubt.''

Ahsan pointed out that the Swiss had closed the cases in 2008 when Zardari took office on the grounds of immunity and that there was no third party to claim the funds.

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