ISLAMABAD, April 12 (Xinhuanet) -- A court in Pakistan on Monday handed down a 23-year jail term to a opposition leader on charges of treason, who had criticized army generals for meddling in politics.

    Judge Chaudhry Asad Reza, while announcing the verdict, also imposed a penalty of 42 thousand rupees (730 US dollars) on the opposition leader.

    Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, president of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) and the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), was arrested in Islamabad in October.

    He is a close lieutenant of deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifand a firebrand leader of his Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz).

    Officials say Hashmi displayed letters in a news conference, allegedly written to him by unknown army men voicing their opposition to President Pervez Musharraf's involvement in Pakistani politics.

    The letters also complained about the alleged appointments of corrupt army officers to civilian posts, Hashmi told the news conference.

    The Pakistan Muslim League was ruling Pakistan in 1999 when Musharraf came into power after a bloodless military coup and ousted Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif and his government.

    The ARD is an alliance opposed to Musharraf and consists of more than a dozen parties. Two former Pakistani prime ministers --Benazir Bhutto and Sharif-- are members of this alliance.

    Both of these prime ministers are in exile but their parties are trying to remove Musharraf from power. Enditem