MANSEHRA: Former provincial minister Syed Ahmad Hussain Shah claimed on Saturday that MPA Mian Ziaur Rehman had offered him support for the Mansehra district nazim slot in the coming local government elections if he withdrew the fake degree case against him.

`Mr Rehman asked me to withdraw the case against him and in return he would support me for the slot of district nazim, Mansehra, in the coming local government elections, but I refused his offer,` said Mr Shah while speaking to mediapersons here. Mr Shah has filed a case against Mr Rehman in Abbottabad Circuit Bench of the Peshawar High Court through his nephew Shoaib Ali Shah, seeking his disqualification as MPA on the ground of his alleged fake degree.

`Besides this, I would also move the election tribunal within a couple of days seeking disqualification of Mr Rehman as he had contested the elections earlier on a fake degree of a seminary inSindh,` he said. He alleged that the PMA had got a fake degree of Shahadat-i-Alimia from a seminary in Ghotki, Sindh. Mr Shah, who also remained district nazim, said that he would expose those who had deceived the people under the pretext of serving them.

`Had it been my brother using a fake degree for his election I would have moved the court of law against him as one must remain honest in any case,` he said.

Mr Shah claimed that as minister he had served the people of his constituency, Balakot, with dedication and most of their problems were settled during his tenure. He said that the people of Balakot tehsil suffered a lot as a result of October 2005 earthquake. `I did my best to settle their issues and succeeded in it,` Mr Shah claimed.

He said that the federal and provincial governments should work sincerely to resolve problems of the survivors in Balakot. This correspondent repeatedly tried to contact Mr Rehman on his phone, but he could not be reached for his comment on the subject.