There was no immediate comment from Bhutto, who is not currently in Pakistan. The Lahore high court sentenced Bhutto and her jailed husband Asif Ali Zardari to five years' jail on a charge of corruption.

The state-run Associated Press of Pakistan said that the ``short order'' of the Lahore high court found Bhutto and her husband guilty of taking kickbacks on government contracts.

Bhutto was abruptly dismissed from power in 1996 on charges of rampant corruption, economic incompetence and sanctioning police hit squads in her home town of Karachi in the southern Sindh province.

Bhutto has steadfastly maintained her innocence. Her husband, who has been criticised even by her supporters as corrupt, has been in jail since her government was dismissed.

Bhutto faces five other charges ofcorruption all stemming from her term in office. Bhutto's earlier term in power also came to a sudden end in August 1990 after only 20 months in power. Then too, Bhutto and her husband were charged with abusing their power, corruption and economic mismanagement. However no charges were ever proven.