The prime minister has refused to ask Swiss officials to reopen a corruption case against President Zardari, saying he has immunity as head of state.

At the end of her day-long talks with Afghan officials in Kabul Wednesday, Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar told reporters that her country wants peace and stability in Afghanistan, saying continued conflict in the neighboring country is “a threat to the existence of Pakistan”.

“This visit will mark a new cooperation phase between the two countries,” Afghan foreign ministry spokesman Janan Mosazai told reporters ahead of what will be Khar’s first visit to Afghanistan since taking office in July.

Kabul, which accuses Islamabad of supporting the 10-year Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan, put relations on ice after the September murder of its peace envoy Burhanuddin Rabbani, which one Afghan minister blamed on Pakistani spies.

The Kabul government said the bomber who killed Rabbani was a Pakistani and accused the Pakistani government of hindering the investigation.

“After the death of Rabbani we boycotted some of the bilateral and trilateral meetings (including the US) with Pakistan,” a senior official in Karzai’s office told AFP.

On Monday, the Supreme Court lifted travel restrictions on Haqqani under the condition that he appear before the memo commission whenever summoned and should do so within four days of the notice.

Turkmenistan has the world’s fourth-largest gas reserves and energy-hungry India and Pakistan are both eager to tap this source through the pipeline that would run through the Central Asian nation’s eastern neighbour, Afghanistan.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani released the remarks following talks with army chief of staff General Ashfaq Kayani and intelligence chief Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha.

American businessman Mansoor Ijaz, who implicated President Asif Ali Zardari in a May memo seeking US help to rein in Pakistan’s powerful military, has refused to travel to Pakistan, citing fears for his safety.

His testimony is considered key to any case against the president, who faces frenzied speculation that he could be forced out of office over the scandal.

Giving Ijaz another opportunity to appear, a three-member judicial commission adjourned until February 9 and said they would ask the Supreme Court to extend their mandate, which was due to end on Saturday.

The Supreme Court ordered an investigation into the scandal following advice from the head of Pakistan’s intelligence agency.

Zardari’s ambassador to Washington, Husain Haqqani, was forced to resign over the scandal but he flatly denies writing the memo. The courts have since put restrictions on his ability to leave Pakistan.

“The commission cannot go abroad because the Supreme Court has restrained Husain Haqqani, so in the same way, Mansoor Ijaz’s statement should be recorded in Pakistan,” said Justice Qazi Faez Isa.

The judges earlier summoned Interior Minister Rehman Malik to explain how the government could protect Ijaz.

“He will be given box security. I assure you that his name will not be put on exit control list,” Malik told the commission.

“It is better for the image of the country that anyone coming here to give evidence, goes back safely,” Justice Qazi Faez Isa told Malik.

Ijaz’s lawyer, Akram Sheikh, earlier told the commission that his client feared being barred from leaving Pakistan. Instead, he has offered to record his testimony in London or Zurich — an option thrown out by Justice Isa.

Isa said the commission needs to cross-examine Ijaz and also examine all the electronic devices.

Sheikh said his client feared for his life if he visited the country and does not trust the Interior Minister. “He thinks Rehman Malik will kill him”.

Ijaz’s lawyer said Malik was the head of Benazir Bhutto’s security team when she was killed in a gun and suicide attack in 2007, a charge Malik denied.

“This is wrong. The then government was responsible for her security and I was not in the government at that time,” Malik said.

In a terse formal report, the Pakistani military maintained its previously stated position that coalition forces conducting a ground raid in Afghanistan carried sole blame for a clash that it said was “deliberate at some level.”

The several legal and political challenges that this government faces cannot be emphasised enough. With the threat of early elections looming, it is fighting tooth and nail to become the first civilian government to complete a full term.