Islamabad: After the failure of the government to defend the presidential reference against Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz yesterday completed the process of changing his legal team by replacing Wasi Zafar with Zahid Hamid as the new law minister.

Zahid Hamid was privatisation minister before his new assignment. The prime minister has also accepted the resignation of Federal Law Secretary Justice (retired) Mansoor Ahmad.

Attorney-General Makhdoom Ali Khan had resigned days after the historical judgment of the Supreme Court on July 20.

Meanwhile, two of the four accused in the Chief Justice manhandling case, Chief Commissioner Khalid Pervez and Inspector General of Police, Islamabad, Iftikhar Ahmad Chaudhry, were also eased out of their posts on Sunday, being replaced by Hamid Ali Khan and Shahid Nadeem Baloch respectively.

According to an official spokesman, Wasi Zafar has been assigned the portfolio of Federal Minister for Privatisation and Investment.

The decision comes after hectic consultations between Aziz and Musharraf.