World Notes PAKISTAN

Ever since she was dismissed as Prime Minister more than a month ago on charges of corruption and general incompetence, Benazir Bhutto has waited anxiously to see what legal grenades the government would toss at her. Last week she found out. With new elections scheduled for late October, the government filed charges in four cases, accusing her of misuse of power while in office. Insisted the former Prime Minister: "The cases are ridiculous."

Though the charges do not carry jail terms, she would be barred from holding public office for the next seven years if found guilty -- which is exactly what her opponents want. The most serious charge grows out of a Bhutto government decision last year to sell 287 acres of public land in the capital city of Islamabad to a London firm, Messers International Guarantee Trust Co. The government offered the land for $1 million, though its real market value was reputed to have been closer to 15 times that amount. The implication is that someone in authority stood to benefit handsomely from the transaction.