American surgeon Tanveer Zamani denies marriage to Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari
An American surgeon has issued a public denial to reports that she has secretly married the president of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of Benazir Bhutto.
Reports have swirled around Pakistan that President Zardari was married in Dubai, just over three years after the assassination of his wife, the former prime minister. However, the president's lawyers have now begun legal proceedings against a newspaper group that published details of the alleged romance.
The woman at the centre of the rumour, Tanveer Zamani, a 47-year-old doctor, has denied she married him in a ceremony last month. "I have never met President Zardari and the only reason I have refrained from commenting on an internet hoax involving me is because I deemed it against my dignity to respond to such a hoax. Bloggers and journalists do not have the right to make up stories and disrupt the lives of people," she said in an email message.
Internet stories suggest nine black goats, six cows and a camel were sacrificed during the ceremony. Mr Zardari is threatening to sue the Jang Group, one of Pakistan's largest media houses, if it does not retract its story and issue an apology. "This lawsuit will seek in excess of $100m, which the Bhutto-Zardari family would donate to the victims of the 2010 floods in Pakistan," said an email sent by a team of New York-based lawyers to the group.
"As you are undoubtedly aware, this story is a complete lie that was fostered by an internet hoax that has been ongoing for several weeks. "Publication of such a non-sourced fabrication was not only reckless, it was malicious."
The Jang Group is known for its strongly anti-government stance and has lost no opportunity to disparage President Zardari. No one from the group was available for comment.
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