Pakistan vote count shows big Sharif win

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The vote count from last weekend's nationwide elections in Pakistan on Tuesday indicates a big win for former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's party.

Figures released by the country's election commission, based on 254 of the 269 races where the counting has been completed, show Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N party will likely get a majority in the national assembly, setting him up to be prime minister for the third time.

As the new premier, the 63-year-old Sharif, a devout Muslim and a populist, is expected to supplant President Asif Ali Zardari as the international face of a nuclear power whose increasing instability and Islamic militant havens are a global concern, especially at a time when the West is looking to end the war in neighboring Afghanistan.

Sharif's party so far has won 123 of the 254 directly elected national assembly seats, the commission spokesman Khursheed Alam said. The commission is still compiling results for 15 seats, and Alam said it hopes the remaining results will be released by Tuesday evening.

Earlier reports from the election commission on Tuesday wrongly indicated that the count was over.

The White House said President Barack Obama had spoken with Sharif by telephone to congratulate him on his party's success. White House spokesman Jay Carney called the election and peaceful transfer of power a "significant milestone" in Pakistan's progress toward a more democratic political system.

The vote marked the first time a civilian government completed its full five-year term and transferred power in democratic elections.

There are 272 directly-elected seats in the lower house of parliament, but races for three seats were not held because a candidate had died. A new vote will be scheduled for those seats after alternative names are proposed.

Independent candidates who normally join the party that forms the government won 25 seats. The combination would give Sharif's party more than the 137 directly elected seats they need to have a majority.

There are an additional 70 seats for women and minorities that are apportioned to the parties based on how well they do in the general election.

The outgoing ruling Pakistan People's Party won 31 seats. The party was battered by allegations of corruption and complaints that it did nothing to address power blackouts and inflation. Almost all of the seats that it did win were in the party's stronghold of Sindh province.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party led by former cricket star Imran Khan won 26 seats, which is a huge improvement for a party that boycotted the 2008 election and only claimed one seat in the 2002 vote.

Khan's supporters have protested the vote as unfair, and the cricket star has claimed vote-rigging in the port city of Karachi and in Punjab province. Many of the young people who have come out to vote for Khan have also taken to the streets in recent days in protests in Karachi and Islamabad calling for recounts and new elections in many areas.

But many election observers who monitored the vote have said it was relatively fair.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said they did not find any evidence of systematic rigging and called on all parties to accept the vote.

The Free and Fair Election Network, a Pakistani monitoring group with thousands of observers, has described the balloting in Punjab as "relatively fair."

"The elections were held in a free and fair manner," said the election commission spokesman, Alam, adding the commission was examining complaints it received.

Sharif visited Khan in the hospital Tuesday, where he is recovering from a serious fall last week in which he injured his back, and urged him to accept the election results.

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Associated Press writers Zarar Khan in Islamabad and Josh Lederman in Washington contributed to this report.

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Final Pakistan vote count confirms big Sharif win

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Abduction, attacks mar run-up to Pakistan election

ISLAMABAD (AP) — An especially violent spate of killings, kidnappings and bombings marred the run-up to Pakistan's nationwide election, capped Thursday by the abduction of the son of a former prime minister as he was rallying supporters on the last day of campaigning before the historic vote.

Saturday's election marks the first time in Pakistan's military coup-riddled history that a civilian government has finished its term and will hand over power to another. But the significance of the occasion has been overshadowed by the relentless violence targeting mostly liberal, secular parties.

More than 125 people have been killed by a series of bombings and shootings that can mostly be traced to Taliban militants who have vowed to disrupt a democratic process they view as un-Islamic. Separatists in the southwestern province of Baluchistan have also attacked candidates and their supporters across the political spectrum.

There was no claim of responsibility for the abduction of 25-year-old Ali Haider Gilani, but suspicion immediately fell on the Taliban. Gilani is running for a provincial assembly seat under the banner of the Pakistan People's Party, one of three parties the Taliban has singled out for retribution because they supported military operations against Taliban insurgents in northwestern Pakistan.

His father, Yousuf Raza Gilani, is a longtime member of the PPP who served as prime minister while many of those military operations were carried out.

The younger Gilani was leaving an election event in the city of Multan in southern Punjab province when attackers pulled up in a car and motorcycle, sprayed the area with bullets, threw him into one of the vehicles and drove off, officials and witnesses said.

"One of the gunmen grabbed Haider, who had blood splashed on his trousers," said rally participant Shehryar Ali in comments aired by Pakistani television broadcaster Geo News.

The former prime minister has been campaigning heavily in Multan to help his three sons, who are all running for elected office in the district, but he was not at the rally when his son was taken.

Appearing shaken, the elder Gilani said in televised comments that two bodyguards were killed in the attack, but he did not know whether his son was wounded.

"His two guards were shielding him, and they died," the former premier said. "I urge all of my party supporters to remain peaceful and participate in the vote."

Gilani was forced out of office last summer by the Supreme Court after refusing to pursue a corruption case against President Asif Ali Zardari.

Although his ouster from office meant he could not run in this election, the Gilani family is still heavily represented in the Multan district races. In addition to the son who was abducted, the former prime minister has two sons running for national assembly seats.

The Pakistan People's Party, along with the Karachi-based Muttahida Quami Movement and the Awami National Party, have been singled out for attack by the Taliban. All were part of the outgoing government during a time when there were repeated military offensives against Taliban militants in the tribal areas.

The threat has forced all three to severely curtail their election events. Instead of the large, outdoor rallies the PPP used in 2008 to whip up support among thousands of voters, the party has relied on television and newspaper ads and smaller indoor gatherings where security is more manageable. In northwest Pakistan, candidates from the Awami National Party held election events inside private homes under heavy security or reached out to voters via social media and by telephone.

Officials with the PPP lashed out Thursday after Gilani's abduction, saying the security forces have done little to protect them.

"We were screaming that we need security for our candidates. We were saying that we have received threats, but no one heard our pleas, and we did not get security," said a party spokeswoman, Sharmila Farouqi. "Now see what has happened. The son of a former prime minister has been kidnapped."

There is also concern that the inability of the three parties to properly campaign will unfairly tilt the race in the favor of parties who have a more favorable view toward the Taliban and oppose military operations in the tribal areas.

The Pakistani Taliban has been waging a bloody insurgency in Pakistan for years to enforce Islamic law in the country and break the government's alliance with the United States in fighting militants. They have killed thousands of civilians and security personnel in scores of gun and bomb attacks.

But in recent weeks even those parties favoring negotiations have not been immune.

On Thursday, a bomb targeting an election office of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam in the North Waziristan tribal area near Afghanistan killed one person, according to two Pakistani intelligence officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam is considered more favorable to the Pakistani Taliban and has supported negotiations with the militants over military operations.

It was the third attack on the party this week. On Monday, 25 people died when a bomb exploded at an election rally, and 13 people died Tuesday in two separate attacks targeting party representatives.

Regardless of the security threats, the PPP is expected to fare poorly in the vote after presiding over a five-year term that saw inflation skyrocket and widespread electricity blackouts become the norm across the country.

The Pakistan Muslim League-N, headed by two-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, is seen as the front-runner, while the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, headed by former cricket star Imran Khan, is considered a wild card who could gain significant seats.

Khan may also benefit from widespread sympathy following a fall Tuesday during an election rally in the eastern city of Lahore while he was being raised by a forklift to a stage to address his followers. The 60-year-old Khan fractured a vertebra in his neck and two in his back, cracked a rib and cut his head in the accident, which kept him from participating in the last days of the campaign.

On Thursday, Khan addressed a rally of at least 25,000 flag-waving supporters in Islamabad via video link from his hospital bed, asking them to make sure to vote for his party on election day.

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Associated Press writers Asif Shahzad in Islamabad, Zaheer Babar in Lahore and Rasool Dawar in Peshawar contributed to this report.

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Follow Santana on Twitter (at)ruskygal.

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Bomb at Pakistan Islamist party rally kills 16

PARACHINAR, Pakistan (AP) — A bomb blast tore through a political rally held by an Islamist party in northwest Pakistan Monday, in an attack claimed by the Pakistani Taliban that killed 16 people and underscored an increase in violence ahead of the May 11 vote.

The explosion, at a rally held in the village of Sewak in the northwest Kurram tribal area, was the latest attack on candidates, political offices and election-related events as the vote approaches. Much of the violence is believed to have been carried out by the Taliban against three liberal and secular parties. But Monday's blast targeted a gathering of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party which generally has a more favorable relationship with the militant group.

The bomb, which was apparently planted near the main stage of the rally, killed 16 and left 44 wounded, said Umar Khan, a doctor at the nearby Sada hospital where many of the wounded were initially taken.

Two party leaders who were speaking at the event escaped unharmed.

About 2,500 people had gathered at a local religious school to hear the candidates speak, said one man who was in the crowd, Sabir Gul. The massive explosion came just as one of the candidates ended his speech and was leaving the stage, he said.

One of the candidates, Ainuddin Shakir, told a local television station that the bomb appeared to have been detonated by remote control.

Another resident, Mohammad Jamil, attended the meeting with his brother and was in the dining hall eating when the explosion occurred. Political parties often give food to people at rallies who sometimes travel from nearby villages to hear candidates speak. Jamil said people attending the rally had been searched as they went into the gathering.

"There was a deafening sound which stunned me for a while but I quickly moved out of the dining hall," he said, describing a "hell-like" situation. "There were countless people bleeding and crying for help. My brother Khalil was among them."

The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party is considered supportive of the Afghan Taliban's fight against the United States and its allies in neighboring Afghanistan. It's also sympathetic to the Pakistani Taliban, which have been fighting Pakistani troops and would like to establish a hardline Islamic government in Pakistan. The group's leaders have generally opposed the Pakistani military's operations against militants in the tribal region and instead called for negotiating with the militants.

The Taliban have claimed responsibility in recent weeks for a string of attacks against secular Pakistani parties that have in general supported military intervention against the militants in the tribal regions.

Claiming responsibility for Monday's bombing, Pakistani Taliban spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan said the attack was aimed at a candidate who had appeared at the rally — Munir Khan Orakzai. Ahsan said Orakzai was targeted because he supported operations against militants in the tribal areas when he was previously an independent parliamentarian.

The historic vote, scheduled for this Saturday, will be the first time a democratically elected civilian government completes its term and hands over power to another. But the ongoing attacks against candidates, their supporters and political offices has cast a shadow over the momentous occasion, and may deter many people from going to the polls.

There is also concern that the attacks could benefit the parties that take a softer line toward the militants, because they are able to campaign more freely ahead of the vote. But the Taliban has also condemned democracy as a whole, meaning that any political party taking part in the elections could be considered fair game by the militant group. Militants have called on people in many areas to stay away from the polls on election day.

Some militants in Pakistan have shown a willingness to target anyone connected to the U.S.-backed government in Pakistan, even those, like the head of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, who have called for negotiating with the Taliban in Pakistan or have been outspoken supporters of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

In 2011, a suicide bomber struck a convoy in which the party's head, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, was traveling through northwestern Pakistan, killing 12 people.

Monday's blast, said Raza Rumi from the Islamabad-based Jinnah Institute, showed that even groups such as Rehman's are not immune to the election-related violence.

"Any political force or religious group which adheres to the constitution of Pakistan .... is under attack from the militants. It's as simple as that," he said.

The violence is multi-faceted and reflects the various militant problems facing the Pakistani government and military.

Most of the violence has come in the northwest, where Pakistan has been battling militants intent on overthrowing the government, and in the southern city of Karachi, where Taliban fighters have gained a foothold. Numerous attacks have also hit candidates in the southwestern Baluchistan province, where Baluch rebels are battling Pakistani troops.

On Sunday in Baluchistan, two gunmen attacked a convoy of an independent candidate and killed two of his police guards.

On Friday, in Karachi, gunmen killed an anti-Taliban election candidate along with his 6-year-old son and a political activist.

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Santana reported from Islamabad. Zarar Khan in Islamabad and Rasool Dawar in Peshawar also contributed to this report.

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Violent separatists seek to derail Pakistan vote

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — The graffiti on walls around this Pakistani provincial capital hold a dire warning ahead of this weekend's national elections, "Voting means death." It's a very real threat: Over recent weeks at least six people have been killed and around 40 wounded in bombings and grenade attacks targeting candidates.

Ethnic Baluch separatists who have waged a bloody insurgency trying to win independence for the vast, sparsely populated province of Baluchistan are seeking to derail the vote with a campaign of violence. In large part, their targets have been fellow Baluch, seen by the separatists as traitors for agreeing to participate in the vote.

"Our houses are not safe. Our workers are not safe. Our leaders are directly targeted every day," said Naimatullah Gichki, a senior member of a Baluch party, the National Party. "We are fighting a war, not an election."

Saturday's election has thrown into sharp relief a question that has divided the country's Baluch ethnic minority: Can the community win their rights at the ballot box or is the only solution a violent campaign to break away from Pakistan?

The Baluch have long been alienated by what they see as exploitation by the central government. Wedged between the borders with Afghanistan and Iran, Baluchistan is rich in oil, natural gas and valuable minerals. But it is Pakistan's poorest province and remains extremely underdeveloped, with residents complaining that resource riches have mainly gone to fill the federal government's coffers. The province is Pakistan's largest, making up around 40 percent of its area, but also its least populated, with only 9 million people, about half the population of the city of Karachi. Just over half the province's population is Baluch.

The local government is seen as notoriously corrupt, dysfunctional and not responsive to Baluch grievances. Adding to the misery, paramilitary soldiers and intelligence agents have waged a repressive campaign against separatists in which they are accused of snatching scores of people off the street and either killing them or holding them in secret detention. That has fueled distrust of authorities and support for the separatists, especially among Baluchistan's young middle class.

The area has also been plagued by horrific attacks by Islamic militants on minority Shiites. Afghan Taliban fighters have used the territory's empty, arid landscape as a refuge, and the group's elusive leader Mullah Omar is believed to be hiding here. The province, located on the Arabian Sea, is also vital to coalition forces fighting in landlocked Afghanistan, providing one of two overland routes used to ship NATO supplies to troops there.

Some see the voting for national and provincial assemblies as a possible turning point.

Baluch nationalist parties that boycotted elections five years ago and have been out of power in the province for over a decade have decided to participate in the vote. They are pressing Baluch demands for greater autonomy and a larger share of the province's resources — but they advocate remaining part of the state. The hope is that their victory could lessen support for the violent insurgency.

But the question of whether participation is the solution has even divided families.

Akhtar Mengal, one of the most prominent Baluch leaders, returned from self-imposed exile in Dubai in March to lead his Baluchistan Nationalist Party-M in the election. He acknowledges the difficulties of trying to work through the system, especially given the army's power in the province.

"The state has ruled Baluchistan not as a province, but as a colony," he told The Associated Press. "Unless they change their behavior, I don't think the problems here will be solved in 100 years."

His brother, Javed Mengal, who remains in the United Arab Emirates, is an outspoken supporter of independence, and officials accuse him of leading one of several groups that have been staging gun and bomb attacks against security forces, government officials and even civilians for years.

Javed's son, Noordin, denies he or his father back insurgents. But they see no hope elections can help Baluchistan.

"We don't trust the Pakistani military because they have always deceived us and we have only been left with bloodshed and misery," said Noordin, speaking by phone from the UAE. "This is a controlled democracy, and elections in the past haven't resulted in any meaningful change for the people."

The Mengal family isn't the only one divided by the conflict. One of the most powerful separatist leaders, Hyrbyari Marri, has a brother who is running in the election from the Pakistan Muslim League-N party.

Baluchistan's residents have had a tense relationship with Pakistan's central government since the country achieved independence from Britain in 1947. The province has experienced five violent rebellions since then.

In the 1990s, the participation in politics by the two main Baluch nationalist parties helped keep a lid on separatist violence. But when military strongman Pervez Musharraf came to power in Islamabad in a 1999 coup, he sought to sideline the secular nationalists, implementing election rules that favored Islamist parties. Those parties went on to form the provincial government in 2002.

In 2005, the latest separatist rebellion erupted, and Musharraf launched an army campaign to crush it. But the use of force and widespread abuses by security forces only fueled the insurgency. Human Rights Watch has said hundreds of people have been "forcibly disappeared" since 2005, while Baluch activists put the number in the thousands. The United Nations sent a team to investigate the issue last year and found no evidence that anyone in the government has been punished for the alleged abuses.

The two main nationalist parties responded to Musharraf's tactics by boycotting the 2008 elections. That vote brought in the current provincial government, seen as unabashedly corrupt. Islamabad nearly doubled development funds for Baluchistan in 2010, but officials were accused of pocketing millions of dollars rather than spending it on the province.

Javed Baluch, the owner of a small grain shop in Quetta, said he believes nationalist leaders like Akhtar Mengal can help sap the strength of the separatist by convincing people that Baluchistan's problems can be addressed through politics rather than force.

"He would persuade those people who have taken up arms to come down from the mountains and work with us for the prosperity and progress of the province," said Baluch.

But not everyone is convinced. Mengal's critics have spread claims that he returned from exile after striking a secret deal with the military — allegations denied by his party. Mengal spent nearly two years in jail during Musharraf's rule and left the country after he was released in 2008.

The performance of the nationalist parties in the election could come down to whether voters are brave enough risk separatist attacks to head to the polls, especially in insurgent strongholds in the province.

"People are scared due to these blasts, but there is no other way for us than to go to the polling station and cast our vote," said Mohammed Ashraf, the owner of a small sandal shop in Quetta.

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Associated Press writer Abdul Sattar contributed to this report.

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In Pakistan town, men have spoken: No women vote

MATEELA, Pakistan (AP) — For decades, not a single woman in this dusty Pakistani village surrounded by wheat fields and orange trees has voted. And they aren't likely to in next week's parliamentary election either. The village's men have spoken.

"It's the will of my husband," said one woman, Fatma Shamshed. "This is the decision of all the families."

Mateela is one of 564 out of the 64,000 polling districts across Pakistan where not a single woman voted in the country's 2008 election. The men from this village of roughly 9,000 people got together with other nearby communities to decide that their women would not vote on May 11 either.

Next week's election will bring a major first for democracy in Pakistan — the first time a civilian government has fulfilled its term and handed over power to another. But women still face an uphill battle to make their voices heard in the political process, as voters, candidates and in parliament, where they hold 22 percent of the seats in the lower house.

Women represent only about 43 percent of the roughly 86 million registered voters, according to election commission data. In more conservative areas like Khyber Paktunkhwa province and Baluchistan, the percentage drops even further.

In places like Mateela, the fact that men decide women should not be allowed to vote is a decades-old tradition. Some men say women don't have the mental capacity. Other times they don't want wives and daughters to leave the house. Some simply don't see the point.

At a recent gathering in the village, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of Islamabad, activists tried to encourage the opposite. The Association for Gender Awareness & Human Empowerment, an independent group working to increase voter participation, met with residents, trying to encourage them to let women vote.

Mateela's men sat with male activists in a courtyard near the village mosque. Secluded behind a gate, the women sat on a concrete floor and listened to a female activist talk about the benefits of voting.

Yar Mohammed, one of the village elders, insisted it isn't a matter of discrimination. The problem, he said, is that the local polling station is mixed gender. The men worry that their wives and daughters will be harassed, so they want a separate women's station. In some places, but not all, polls are specified for men or women only.

"We stop our women from going to polling stations because we think if they do, men would tease them by staring or touching them," he said.

Mateela's women certainly want a political voice. They talk of their desire to see better roads, schools where their daughters can get an education and a reliable supply of gas for cooking and heating.

They don't directly defy their fathers and husbands — but they do lobby them to change their minds.

One resident, Mohammed Shamshed, said the women in his family "come up to us and say, 'We want to vote.'"

"But we tell them that it is a collective decision," he said.

Rubina Arshad said things are slowly starting to change as men and women become more educated. "This is the tradition and the culture, from many, many years ago. We could not cast the vote," she said.

Another deterrent to women voting has been that many don't have the proper identification card, called a CNIC card. Historically, many men in conservative areas haven't seen the need to send their wives or daughters to get the ID card or haven't wanted to pay for it.

But activists say that has begun to change in recent years — in large part because it makes more financial sense for men. Poor women who want to receive money through the Benazir Income Support Program, a government plan to give money to poor people, need a valid ID card. And many programs that give out aid to flood victims or people displaced in fighting in the tribal areas also require an ID card.

"These two have tremendously enhanced the registration of women," said Muddassir Rizvi, CEO of the Islamabad-based Free and Fair Election Network. "If they see an advantage of a relationship with the state, then they agree to things."

There are other encouraging signs as well, with more women competing in the elections.

In Pakistan, 60 of the 342 seats in the lower house of parliament, known as the National Assembly, are reserved for women. They are handed out to parties in proportion to how they do in the overall race, so women don't have to campaign publicly for them. But women can also run for the general seats, in competition with men on the campaign trial. In 2008, 64 women ran for general seats and 18 made it to the parliament.

This year, the number of women contesting general seats has jumped to 161, out of a total of 4,671 candidates, according to data provided by U.N. Women, which focuses on women's empowerment and gender issues. Elections for provincial assemblies saw a bigger rise, with 355 women running among nearly 11,000 candidates, up from 116 in 2008.

The type of women running has also changed.

Traditionally, many female candidates have been from wealthy, land-owning families and were seen more as a continuation of political dynasties than as women entering politics in their own right. Benazir Bhutto was famous for being Pakistan's first female prime minister, but she was also the daughter of a powerful political family.

Experts say many of the women running this year are from the middle or even lower classes. A woman in the tribal area of Bajur is running for parliament, marking the first time a woman has ever run for election from the conservative tribal areas that border Afghanistan. In the southern city of Hyderabad, a Hindu woman is also running for election.

Still, the number of female candidates is extremely low, and most run as independents without the support of a political party.

The Pakistan People's Party, the party that Bhutto headed before her assassination in 2007, is fielding women candidates in only 7 percent of the races. A PPP spokeswoman, Sharmila Farouqi admits that is not enough.

"There is a perception that women cannot contest elections against men due to many reasons," she said. "There is a need to encourage and support women."

When they do get into the parliament, women tend to get down to business.

According to FAFEN's data, female lawmakers last term asked more questions and submitted more bills and resolutions than men.

The women also banded together to help pass five pieces of important legislation protecting women, including laws against sexual harassment in the workplace, according to Farkhanda Aurangzeb, from the Islamabad-based Aurat Foundation.

In Mateela, the men say they are willing to let women vote if the election commission sets up a separate polling station. But the commission said that isn't possible because the voting lists had already been finalized.

Abdul Hamid Abbasi, an activist from AGAHE, tried to convince the tribal elders that allowing women to vote will increase their power at the polls.

"You can change your fate by electing a good candidate," he says. "It won't be possible without the active participation of women voters."

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Associated Press writers Munir Ahmed, Rasool Dawar, Zarar Khan, Sherin Zada and Anwarullah Khan contributed to this report.

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Follow Rebecca Santana at http://www.twitter.com/ruskygal

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ITF reject Pakistan appeal over Davis Cup elimination

(Reuters) - The International Tennis Federation (ITF) have rejected Pakistan's appeal against the awarding of their Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Group II tie to New Zealand, the governing body said on Wednesday.

Designated hosts Pakistan were disqualified from last month's Davis Cup tie, played in Myanmar because of security concerns, after referee Ashita Ajigala ruled that the grass court in Yangon had become unplayable and dangerous.

The Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) appealed against the ruling but the ITF's Davis Cup Committee upheld the Sri Lankan referee's decision at a meeting on Tuesday.

"It was the view of the Committee that the Pakistan Tennis Federation did not organize the tie to the required standards, notably with regard to the quality of the two available courts," the ITF said in a statement.

The tie was played in Myanmar after New Zealand refused to visit Pakistan due to safety concerns.

"The Committee noted that the poor quality of the original match court led the Referee to designate the practice court as the match court," the ITF statement read.

"Following the deterioration of the second court, specifically during the second match, the Referee determined that this court was now unplayable and a risk to player safety.

"The Referee also deemed that the court would not become playable in the next 24 hours due to its poor condition, and awarded the tie to New Zealand."

The PTF could still appeal to the ITF Board of Directors, the statement added.

(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; Editing by John O'Brien)

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Tennis-ITF reject Pakistan appeal over Davis Cup elimination

May 1 (Reuters) - The International Tennis Federation (ITF) have rejected Pakistan's appeal against the awarding of their Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Group II tie to New Zealand, the governing body said on Wednesday.

Designated hosts Pakistan were disqualified from last month's Davis Cup tie, played in Myanmar because of security concerns, after referee Ashita Ajigala ruled that the grass court in Yangon had become unplayable and dangerous.

The Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) appealed against the ruling but the ITF's Davis Cup Committee upheld the Sri Lankan referee's decision at a meeting on Tuesday.

"It was the view of the Committee that the Pakistan Tennis Federation did not organise the tie to the required standards, notably with regard to the quality of the two available courts," the ITF said in a statement.

The tie was played in Myanmar after New Zealand refused to visit Pakistan due to safety concerns.

"The Committee noted that the poor quality of the original match court led the Referee to designate the practice court as the match court," the ITF statement read.

"Following the deterioration of the second court, specifically during the second match, the Referee determined that this court was now unplayable and a risk to player safety.

"The Referee also deemed that the court would not become playable in the next 24 hours due to its poor condition, and awarded the tie to New Zealand."

The PTF could still appeal to the ITF Board of Directors, the statement added. (Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; Editing by John O'Brien)

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Pakistan Taliban bomb politicians' offices, kill 9

PARACHINAR, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani Taliban detonated bombs at the campaign offices of two politicians in the country's northwest on Sunday, police said, killing at least nine people in an escalation of attacks on secular, left-leaning political parties.

In first attack, on the outskirts of Kohat city, a bomb ripped through the office of Syed Noor Akbar, killing six and wounding 10 people, police official Mujtaba Hussain said.

A second bomb targeted a campaign office of another candidate, Nasir Khan Afridi, in the suburbs of Peshawar city. That attack killed three people and wounded 12, police official Saifur Rehman Khan said.

Both politicians, who were not in the offices at the time of the blasts, are running as independent candidates for national assembly seats to represent constituencies in Pakistan's lawless tribal areas, where scores of militant groups operate including some with links to al-Qaida. The general elections will be held on May 11.

Pakistani Taliban spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan claimed responsibility for both attacks, as well as two others against secular political parties in the southern port city of Karachi.

"We are against all politicians who are going to become part of any secular, democratic government," he told The Associated Press by telephone from an undisclosed location.

The Taliban previously announced a strategy to target three political parties, including the Awami National Party (ANP), the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP). All three are perceived as liberal, having earned the Taliban's ire by opposing the insurgency and extremism during their time in the outgoing government.

The onslaught has forced many of the parties to change their campaign strategy and has raised questions about whether the vote can be considered valid if some mainstream parties can't properly take part.

Such attacks have killed at least 28 people in just last four days.

One of the most serious attacks occurred on April 21, when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a meeting of the ANP in the northwestern city of Peshawar, killing 16 people. The Taliban said the target of the attack was Haroon Ahmad Bilour, whose father, a senior party leader, was killed in a suicide bombing in Peshawar in December. He escaped unscathed, but his uncle, Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, suffered minor injuries.

In the capital, Islamabad, Pakistani officials said they planned to seal the border with Afghanistan and restrict the movement of Afghan refugees on election day.

Officials at the Interior Ministry and the election commission have said that the measure is aimed at preventing terrorist attacks during the vote. However, officials did not say how they would restrict the movement of hundreds of thousands of people spread out across the country or block crossings along the porous border. Pakistan announced similar measures in the past but failed to take action.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.

The Islamist and center-right political parties have been spared by the Taliban and have been holding big public rallies without fear of being attacked. They largely support peace talks with the Taliban instead of military offensives.

The leaders of the political parties under Taliban attack have said the violence amounts to election rigging. But they have, so far, decided not to boycott the vote.

____

Associated Press Writers Riaz Khan and Rasool Dawar in Peshawar contributed to this report.

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Taliban bomb kills 9 in southern Pakistan

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Police say a bomb has exploded near the office of a political party, which has received threats from the Taliban, killing nine people in southern Pakistan.

Police officer Zafar Bukhari says the bomb was planted on a motorbike near the Awami National Party office in Karachi. The Friday night blast killed nine people, including four children, and wounded 24.

Pakistani Taliban spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan claimed responsibility for the attack in a telephone call to The Associated Press from an undisclosed location.

The Taliban have threatened to attack several secular political parties, including the ANP, in the run up to the parliamentary election on May 11.

Previously, the Taliban killed at least two political party representatives and attacked a number of political events, particularly targeting the ANP in the northwest.

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Indian spy on death row hurt in Pakistan prison

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top Pakistani prison official says an Indian spy on death row was critically injured when he was attacked with a brick inside a prison in the eastern city of Lahore.

Farooq Nazir said Friday that Sarabjit Singh sustained a serious head injury when he was attacked by two other prisoners on Friday at Kot Lakhpat jail. Nazir said Singh was moved to hospital and was out of danger.

Singh was arrested in 1990 for his role in series of bombings in Lahore and Faisalabad that killed 14 people.

He was convicted of spying and carrying out the bomb blasts and sentenced to death in 1991. The sentence was later upheld by Pakistani superior courts.

Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf rejected his mercy petition in 2008.

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Bomb kills 9 near Pakistan political party office

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — A bomb exploded on Friday near the office of a main Pakistan political party that had received threats from the Taliban, killing nine people in the latest attack in the run-up to next month's parliamentary election.

As the election approaches, militant groups have increasingly been attacking liberal, secular parties such as the one targeted Friday in the port city of Karachi. The onslaught has forced many of the parties to change their campaign strategy and has raised questions about whether the vote can be considered valid if some mainstream parties can't properly take part.

Police officer Zafar Bukhari said the bomb was planted on a motorbike near the Awami National Party office. Nine people, including four children, were killed and 24 other people were wounded, he said.

Pakistani Taliban spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan claimed responsibility for the attack in a telephone call to The Associated Press from an undisclosed location.

The Taliban previously announced a strategy to target three political parties. In addition to the ANP, the Taliban issued threats against the Muttahida Quami Movement and the Pakistan Peoples Party. All three are perceived as being liberal parties that have earned the Taliban's ire by advocating against the militants and extremism.

On Thursday, a bomb exploded outside a MQM election office in Karachi, killing five people.

Earlier, the Taliban killed at least two political party representatives and attacked a number of political events, particularly targeting the ANP in the northwest.

One of the most serious attacks occurred on April 21, when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a meeting of the ANP in the northwestern city of Peshawar, killing 16 people. The Taliban said the target of the attack was Haroon Ahmad Bilour, whose father, a senior party leader, was killed in a suicide bombing in Peshawar in December. He escaped unscathed, but his uncle, Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, suffered minor injuries.

In the capital, Islamabad, Pakistani officials said they planned to seal the border with Afghanistan and restrict the movement of Afghan refugees on election day.

Officials at the Interior Ministry and the election commission said Friday that the measure is aimed at preventing terrorist attacks during the vote. However, officials did not say how they would restrict the movement of hundreds of thousands of people spread out across the country or block crossings along the porous border. Pakistan announced similar measures in the past but failed to take action.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.

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Tennis-ITF to hear Pakistan Davis Cup appeal

Apr 15 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $4,139,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $3,137,920 3. Matt Kuchar $2,442,389 4. Adam Scott (Australia) $2,100,469 5. Steve Stricker $1,935,340 6. Phil Mickelson $1,764,680 7. Dustin Johnson $1,748,907 8. Jason Day $1,659,565 9. Hunter Mahan $1,553,965 10. Keegan Bradley $1,430,347 11. Charles Howell III $1,393,806 12. John Merrick $1,375,757 13. Russell Henley $1,331,434 14. Michael Thompson $1,310,709 15. Kevin Streelman $1,310,343 16. Bill Haas $1,271,553 17. Billy Horschel $1,254,224 18. ...

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Pakistan complain after Davis Cup disqualification

KARACHI (Reuters) - Pakistan officials have complained to tennis governing body the ITF that their players were left distraught and the team suffered financial loss after they were disqualified from a Davis Cup tie against New Zealand.

Pakistan were on course to take a 2-0 lead in the three-day Asia/Oceania Group II tie on Friday when Sri Lankan referee Asitha Attygalla abandoned the contest due to an "unplayable court" in the neutral venue of Yangon, Myanmar.

As the encounter had been a designated 'home' tie for Pakistan, who are unable to host matches due to security concerns, Attygalla awarded victory to New Zealand.

Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) president Kaleem Imam told Reuters that Attygalla's decision was a "disaster" and added: "Our manager said the players were very distraught after the referee's decision.

"We spent thousands of dollars on preparing for this tie and sending a full-fledged squad to Yangon. We were desperate to win this tie and confident we could do it.

"We had no option but to complain to the ITF (International Tennis Federation) after the referee awarded the entire tie to New Zealand claiming the playing surface was dangerous."

Pakistan's Aqeel Khan beat New Zealand's Artem Sitak in the opening singles while Pakistan doubles specialist Aisam Qureshi was leading Daniel King Turner 6-2 3-6 3-0 in the second singles when the Sri Lankan referee halted the tie.

New Zealand captain Alistair Hunt said on Friday the match had to be abandoned because a hole about "an inch deep and half a foot wide... opened up on the baseline, which proved too dangerous to play on".

Pakistan, however, feel the court was still playable.

"What we have complained is that when the grass surface was okay for the first match, what went wrong in just a few hours time that it turned unplayable? We also met all requirements asked for by the referee," Imam said.

The PTF official said Pakistan had chosen Yangon, Myanmar as a venue over Dubai and India because of the grass courts which Pakistani players favor.

Pakistan have been forced to host international matches in many sports at neutral venues as foreign teams have refused to travel to the country after eight Pakistanis were killed following an attack on the Sri Lanka cricket team in March 2009.

(Editing by Pritha Sarkar)

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Afghan relations with Pakistan at new low

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan accused Pakistan on Thursday of placing unacceptable conditions on efforts to bring peace to the country after nearly 12 years of war, the latest in a series of barbed exchanges that has sunk relations between the two neighbors to a new low.

A breakdown in ties threatens to hinder — or even paralyze — attempts to lure the Taliban to the negotiating table. That's a key goal of the United States and its allies as they work for a peaceful solution in Afghanistan ahead of the final pullout of foreign combat forces in 20 months.

Afghanistan and its international backers consider Pakistan a critical player in bringing the Taliban and other militant groups into peace talks. Pakistan holds dozens of Taliban prisoners and has been accused of backing the insurgents in an effort to be able to exert influence in Afghanistan after foreign troops leave.

A senior Pakistan official said, however, that Islamabad remained committed to reconciliation.

That's why Pakistan recently released 26 Afghan Taliban prisoners from its jails, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. Pakistan remains in contact with members of the Taliban who have been empowered to talk about reconciliation, he said.

A failure to bring peace could endanger the stability of Afghanistan and much of the region, including Pakistan, which is fighting its own domestic Taliban insurgency.

"We have told the Pakistanis that they should support peace in Afghanistan not only for the sake of the Afghan people, but for their own sake," Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Janan Mosazai told The Associated Press in an interview on Thursday.

He said Afghanistan wants a close, broad, strategic relationship with Pakistan, "but one between two equal independent sovereign states, nothing less."

Pakistan, Mosazai said, is constantly shifting its position. Islamabad should be "supporting the Afghan peace process in a more meaningful way and having an independent bilateral relationship that is not based on a delusional desire to control Afghanistan."

So far, Afghanistan has been unsuccessful in getting militants to negotiate peace and needs Pakistan's help. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has urged the Taliban to work out a political resolution to the war and has backed a plan for the Taliban to open an office in the Gulf state of Qatar.

Publicly, the Taliban have long refused to speak directly with Karzai or his government, which they view as a puppet of foreign powers. Afghanistan thinks Pakistan has the influence to get them to talk so it's not helpful when the two capitals are feuding.

Relations between the two countries have been hot and cold in recent years.

Afghanistan often blames Pakistan for supporting insurgents who are fighting both NATO troops and government forces. Afghan officials also claim Pakistan has had a role in major attacks and suicide bombings. They said a suicide bombing that killed a former Afghan president and leader of the government-appointed peace council in September 2011 was planned in Quetta, Pakistan.

"It is not a tempest in a teapot," said Michael O'Hanlon, a fellow at the Washington-based Brookings Institution. "An increasing number of Afghans have figured out how much of a hand Islamabad has had in all the violence over the years.

"If there is a silver lining, it's that Islamabad needs to know that the world has figured them out and that they can't continue their double game indefinitely and get away with it. Some Pakistanis know that already. Many still need to understand it."

Relations between Islamabad and Kabul had been improving in recent months.

Karzai had lauded Pakistan's decision to work for peace and help Afghanistan reach out to the Taliban, whose leaders are thought to be based in Pakistan.

In July, when British Prime Minister David Cameron visited Kabul and met with Karzai and the Pakistani prime minister, they pledged to work together to eliminate terrorism and agreed that peace in Afghanistan would help improve security in Pakistan.

In October, Salahuddin Rabbani, the current head of the peace council and the son of the ex-Afghan president who was slain, visited Islamabad and presented Pakistan with a plan to bring peace to his country by 2015. That plan included the active participation of Pakistan.

A month later, Pakistan's foreign minister gave the Afghans a draft agreement for a strategic partnership and Pakistani army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani made a visit to Kabul. That visit further bolstered Afghan hopes that Islamabad was committed to peace and good relations.

NATO, Afghanistan and Pakistan signed a deal for better military coordination on the border, and equally important, Afghan officials said Kayani not only indicated support for the Afghan peace plan, but said that it should be accelerated from 2015 to 2013.

At a February meeting in London, the leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan further cemented their relationship. At the meeting, it was announced that Afghanistan and Pakistan had committed themselves to trying to achieve peace within six months.

But Afghan officials said the meeting was not as rosy at it seemed.

They said Islamabad demanded three preconditions: That Afghanistan limit its relations with India — Pakistan's archenemy; reach a domestic consensus on peace; and immediately sign a strategic partnership with Pakistan.

Instead of the preconditions, the Afghans said they were expecting Pakistan to take its own steps toward fostering peace talks, including the release of the former No. 2 Taliban leader, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. Afghan officials hoped that Baradar and other imprisoned members of the Taliban can help bring the Taliban to the peace talks. In January, Pakistan's foreign secretary had said Islamabad would eventually release all Taliban prisoners.

"Pakistan is continuing with delaying tactics in their support of the peace process by demanding a supposed intra-Afghan consensus on the peace process at a time that a national consensus to end the violence is the strongest it has ever been for the past decade," Mosazai told the AP.

Western officials have said that the Afghan government was too optimistic about what Pakistan was ready to give, especially on the release of Baradar, and that they should show patience.

Pakistan has denied issuing preconditions, but Afghan officials say recent comments show otherwise — including some made by unnamed Pakistani foreign ministry officials that Karzai was an impediment to peace.

"We believe that relations between the two countries are deteriorating," Karzai spokesman Aimal Faizi said recently. "Enough is enough."

In Islamabad, the senior Pakistani official stressed that Pakistan was supporting reconciliation. As a way to kick start the peace process, the official said Pakistan has suggested a meeting attended by the Taliban and representatives from Afghanistan's multiple ethnic groups. He insisted that the meeting was not aimed at excluding Karzai from the process, but rather to make sure that the Afghan president didn't cut out his own political opposition.

Further complicating efforts to gain traction on a peace process is internal fighting among members of the Taliban, the official said. He said there was an ongoing debate between two factions of the Taliban: Those who reject talks when they are close to seeing international forces leave and a weaker Afghan force take charge and others who see reconciliation as a way to regain political power in Afghanistan.

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AP Intelligence writer Kimberly Dozier contributed from Islamabad.

Follow Patrick Quinn on Twitter at __www.twitter.com/PatrickAQuinn

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Suicide attack kills 6 in northwest Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Police say a suicide bomber attacked a security convoy in northwestern Pakistan, killing at least six people, including two women.

Police official Dost Mohammed Khan says the attacker was targeting Abdul Majeed Marwat, the head of a paramilitary police force called the Frontier Constabulary. Marwat was not hurt in the attack, which occurred on Friday in the main northwest city of Peshawar.

Khan says the dead included three members of the security forces and three civilians. Two of the civilians were women. Over 15 people were wounded.

No group has claimed responsibility.

Peshawar is located on the border with Pakistan's semiautonomous tribal region, the main sanctuary for Taliban militants in the country. The Pakistani Taliban have carried out many bombings in the city targeting both security forces and civilians.

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Musharraf returns to Pakistan intent on comeback

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Former President Pervez Musharraf returned home Sunday hoping to make a political comeback despite Taliban death threats and looming arrest warrants. But judging by the lackluster crowd at the airport to greet him, his biggest challenge could be his waning popularity.

His return comes as Pakistan is poised to transition from one democratically elected government to another — a first for a country that has experienced three coups since its 1947 inception. After years on the margins of Pakistani politics, Musharraf is seeking to rebuild his image, hoping to capitalize on an electorate frustrated with five years of rising inflation, rolling blackouts and security problems.

Musharraf, a four-star general who was chief of the army, took power in a 1999 coup and his military-led regime steered the country for nearly a decade until he was forced to step down in 2008 as president. Confronted with mounting criticism and widespread protests after he tried to dismiss a popular chief justice, he left facing impeachment by the newly elected parliament.

He later left the country and has been living between London and Dubai ever since.

The former Pakistani strongman had promised to return to his homeland many times before. He finally followed through, boarding a plane in Dubai with supporters and journalists and flying to the southern port metropolis of Karachi, the largest city in the nation.

Stepping out of the terminal, surrounded by police and supporters, he portrayed himself as a savior seeking to return the country to the prosperity and stability that supporters say marked his presidency.

"I have come back for you. I want you to get back the Pakistan that I had left when we used to feel proud in ourselves," he said.

Musharraf represents a polarizing force that could further complicate Pakistan's attempt to hold parliamentary elections on May 11. The country passed another milestone Sunday when the election commission appointed a caretaker prime minister to run the government ahead of elections, a step that is designed to promote electoral independence.

Musharraf's supporters, including elements of the military and members of Pakistan's influential expatriate communities, consider him a strong leader whose voice could help stabilize the country. Nostalgia for Musharraf's days in power was evident among members of the crowd who turned out to see him at the airport.

"At that time, we had employment. We had jobs. There was peace. It was 100,000 times better than today," said Muhammed Iqbal from Karachi.

Musharraf is fondly remembered by many people in this city of 18 million people where he heavily backed the Muttahida Quami Movement — the city's dominant political party.

But Musharraf's welcoming party, estimated at between 1,000 and 2000, was small compared with the hundreds of thousands of people who thronged this same terminal when Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan or the tens of thousands who turned out Saturday night for a rally in Lahore for cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan.

Supporters threw rose petals and enthusiastically waved flags emblazoned with pictures of Musharraf and Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founding father of Pakistan, but their energy did not mask their numbers.

"If he claims nationwide support, that would be a joke," said Rasul Bakhsh Rais, from the Lahore University of Management Sciences. "I have never seen such a misplaced optimism about oneself."

Musharraf was whisked out of the airport inside an armored vehicle, surrounded by a phalanx of police and paramilitary security forces. It was a reminder of the security threats Musharraf faces.

The former general angered many militants with his decision in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks to back the U.S. in its invasion of Afghanistan and cut off ties with the Taliban. Militants as well as many other Pakistanis saw him as carrying out the American agenda in Pakistan.

Militants were further infuriated with Musharraf when he decided in 2007 to raid a mosque in Islamabad that become a center for militants opposed to the U.S. Pakistani officials said 102 people, mostly supporters of the mosque, died in the week-long offensive.

The Pakistan Taliban vowed to kill him in a video released on Saturday. One of the featured speakers in the video — former Pakistan Air Force officer Adnan Rashid — was convicted of helping plot an assassination attempt against Musharraf back in 2003 when a suicide bomber tried to ram his vehicle. Rashid was imprisoned, but he escaped during a jail break orchestrated by the Taliban. In the video, he said Musharraf should surrender himself to the Taliban or prepare to be hit again.

"The mujahedeen of Islam have prepared a death squad to send Pervez Musharraf to hell," Rashid warned.

A serious security threat prompted the Pakistani police to cancel a rally that supporters had wanted to hold for Musharraf Sunday afternoon near Jinnah's mausoleum. And organizers at the airport repeatedly asked his boisterous supporters to move away from the front of the terminal so Musharraf could go outside to greet people.

The former president plans to spend a few days at a hotel in Karachi, where he and his team will hash out their plan for the upcoming election, said spokeswoman Saima Ali Dada. He will then travel to Islamabad. Meanwhile, his legal team will meet to decide the best way to respond to the charges against him.

Musharraf has been implicated in the 2007 assassination of Bhutto, as well as the killing of Akbar Bugti, a Baluch nationalist leader who died in August 2006 after a standoff with the Pakistani military. In another case, he's accused of illegally removing a number of judges, including the chief justice of the supreme court.

His return to Pakistan was made easier when a court in Sindh province where Karachi is located granted him preemptive bail, which essentially meant he could not be arrested immediately upon landing. But he must appear before a court within 10 days, and there is no guarantee that he won't be arrested in the future.

Human Rights Watch has called on the Pakistani government to prosecute him for abuses he is alleged to have committed during his time in office.

Regardless of his political future, Musharraf appeared happy to be back on Pakistani soil.

Soon after he landed, Musharraf tweeted: "Thrilled to be back home."

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Associated Press writers Rasool Dawar in Peshawar, Pakistan, and Zarar Khan in Islamabad contributed to this report.

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Musharraf returns to Pakistan amid death threats

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Former President Pervez Musharraf returned to Pakistan on Sunday after more than four years in exile, seeking a possible political comeback in defiance of judicial probes and death threats from Taliban militants.

The journey from Dubai to the southern port city of Karachi was intended as the first step in his goal of rebuilding his image after years on the political margins. But the former military strongman was met by no more than a couple thousand people at the airport, who threw rose petals and waved flags emblazoned with his image — a small turnout by the standards of Pakistani politics and a testament to how much his support in the country has fallen since he was pushed from power in 2008.

Musharraf struck a defiant tone when he spoke to his supporters outside a terminal at the airport, saying he had proved those people wrong who said he would never return after he failed to follow through on previous promises. He also said he was not cowed by a threat by the Pakistani Taliban to kill him.

"I'm not scared. I'm only afraid of God," Musharraf told his supporters. "For the sake of my country, wherever I need to go, I will go."

Since the former general stepped down in the face of mounting discontent, Pakistan's civilian leadership has struggled with a sinking economy, resilient Islamic extremist factions and tensions with Washington over drone strikes and the May 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

Musharraf represents a polarizing force that could further complicate Pakistan's attempt to hold parliamentary elections in May and stage its first transition from one civilian government to another.

He is viewed as an enemy by many Islamic militants and others for his decision to side with America in the response to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. On Saturday, the Pakistani Taliban vowed to mobilize death squads to send Musharraf "to hell" if he returns.

Also Saturday, militants launched a suicide car bomb attack against a military check post in the country's northwest tribal region, killing 17 soldiers, the army said.

Musharraf's supporters, including elements of the military and members of Pakistan's influential expatriate communities, consider him a strong leader whose voice — even just in parliament — could help stabilize the country.

Musharraf also faces legal charges, including some originating from the probe of the 2007 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who also spent time in self-imposed exile in Dubai before returning.

The flight from Dubai came after several failed promises to return in recent years. Musharraf announced in early March that he would lead his party, the All Pakistan Muslim League, in May elections.

Musharraf met briefly with reporters in Dubai before heading to the airport wearing a white shalwar kameez — the traditional loose-fitting outfit in Pakistan — and sandals from the country's Peshawar region near the Afghan border. He mingled with supporters aboard the plane on the way to Karachi, as some of them chanted slogans for his party.

Musharraf tweeted that he was "thrilled to be back home" soon after he landed in Karachi. But there were moments of tension among his supporters when security forces whisked him away in a convoy of about a dozen vehicles, raising concerns he was being detained for the legal charges against him. It turns out he was simply being shifted to a different terminal, and his supporters had to wait over two hours before he came out to address them.

The former president plans to spend a few days at a hotel in Karachi, where he and his team will hash out their plan for the upcoming election, said spokeswoman Saima Ali Dada. He will then travel to Islamabad. Meanwhile, his legal team will meet to decide the best way to respond to the charges against him.

"He is hoping for the best," said Dada.

Musharraf took power in a 1999 coup and was forced out of office in 2008 amid growing discontent over his rule and the threat of impeachment by the country's two most powerful political parties. He has since lived in Dubai and London.

His decision to return was given a boost last week when a Pakistani court granted him pre-emptive bail — essentially preventing his immediate arrest — in three cases in which he's implicated, including Bhutto's death. He now has 10 days to appear in court. He has dismissed the various charges as baseless.

His return comes as Pakistan seeks for the first time to hand power from one elected government to another.

On Sunday, the country's election commission appointed a former high court chief justice nominated by the country's outgoing ruling party to serve as caretaker prime minister in the run-up to the election. The commission chose Mir Hazar Khan Khoso out of four nominees, two submitted by the recently ruling Pakistan People's Party and two by the main opposition Pakistan Muslim League-N.

Khoso served as the chief justice to the high court in southwest Baluchistan province and also briefly served as the acting governor of the province.

The election comes as the country is struggling with rolling blackouts, rising inflation and widespread security problems.

On Saturday, the Pakistan Taliban released a video threatening to unleash suicide bombers and snipers against Musharraf if he comes back. One of the two people speaking in the video was Adnan Rashid, a former Pakistani air force officer convicted in an attack against Musharraf. The Taliban broke Rashid out of prison last year, along with nearly 400 other detainees.

"The mujahedeen of Islam have prepared a death squad to send Pervez Musharraf to hell," said Rashid, who spoke in the video in front of a group of about 20 militants holding rifles. "We warn you to surrender yourself to us. Otherwise we will hit you from where you will never reckon."

Musharraf had been expected to address supporters at a gathering Sunday in Karachi near the mausoleum of Pakistan's founding father Mohammed Ali Jinnah. But police decided to cancel his permit because of a "very serious threat," said Tahir Naveed, the deputy inspector general of Karachi police. He said Musharraf would be provided with an armored vehicle to protect him. Banners and billboards welcoming Musharraf back to Pakistan lined the street from the airport.

In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, Musharraf came under intense pressure from the U.S. to back the Americans in the coming war in Afghanistan and cut off ties with the Taliban, which he did. For that, militants as well as many other Pakistanis saw him as carrying out the American agenda in Pakistan.

He's also vilified by militants for ordering the 2007 raid against a mosque in downtown Islamabad that had become a sanctuary for militants opposed to Pakistan's support of the war in Afghanistan. At least 102 people were killed in the weeklong operation, most of them supporters of the mosque.

Militants tried to kill Musharraf twice in December 2003 in Rawalpindi, where the Pakistani military is headquartered. First they placed a bomb intended to go off when his convoy passed by. When that didn't work, suicide attackers tried to ram his motorcade with explosives-laden vehicles. The president was unhurt but 16 others died.

In addition to the Bhutto case, Musharraf also faces charges resulting from investigations into the killing of Akbar Bugti, a Baluch nationalist leader who died in August 2006 after a standoff with the Pakistani military. In another case, he's accused of illegally removing a number of judges including the chief justice of the supreme court.

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Santana reported from Karachi, Pakistan. Associated Press writer Rasool Dawar in Peshawar, Pakistan, and Zarar Khan in Islamabad contributed to this report.

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Roadside bomb kills 9 people in southwest Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A bomb hidden in a rickshaw exploded outside a bus terminal near a busy bazar in southwestern Pakistan on Friday, killing at least nine people and wounding 40, officials said.

The explosion came hours after a U.S. drone targeted a vehicle in northwestern Pakistan near the Afghan border, killing three suspected militants, two intelligence officials said.

The rickshaw bomb struck in the town of Jafarabad, about 300 kilometers (180 miles) east of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province. It also destroyed several shops, said senior government official Syed Zafar Bukhari.

Bukhari said the motive for the attack was not clear. He said the victims were taken to a hospital, where some of the injured were listed in critical condition.

"I can only confirm that the bomb killed nine people," Bukhari told The Associated Press by phone. "It would be premature to say who orchestrated the attack."

Although no group claimed responsibility, suspicion fell on Bluch nationalists who have waged a decades-long insurgency against the government in Baluchistan for greater autonomy and a larger share of the province's natural resources. The province is also home to many radical Islamist militants.

In the drone strike, a pair of missiles fired from the unmanned aircraft hit a vehicle in a bazar near the Datta Khel village of North Waziristan tribal region at about midnight Thursday, the two intelligence officials said.

The suspects were traveling from the border town of Shawal to Datta Khel, a stronghold of local Taliban commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur, the officials added, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. They said the nationalities and identities of the slain men were not immediately known. Pakistani government and army spokesmen could not be reached for comment.

Drone strikes often cause tension between Washington and Islamabad. They are extremely unpopular in this Islamic nation, where many people believe the drone attacks mostly kill civilians, an allegation disputed by U.S. officials.

The CIA drone strikes have killed scores of suspected al-Qaida and Taliban men in Pakistan's tribal region over the past few years. The secret nature of the program makes it difficult to determine how many civilians are being killed.

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Associated Press Writer Rasool Dawar contributed to this report from Peshawar.

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Pakistan to hold nationwide elections May 11

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan will hold nationwide parliamentary elections on May 11, said a presidential spokesman on Wednesday. The vote is expected to produce the country's first transition from one civilian government to another.

The president approved a proposal finalizing the May date for the upcoming election, said Farhatullah Babar.

The Pakistani parliament completed its term Saturday, making it the first democratically chosen body to finish a full five-year term in a country that has seen three military coups and persistent political turmoil since its 1947 independence from Britain.

The ruling Pakistan People's Party has been dogged by rumors that it would be deposed or forced to call early elections ever since it assumed office in March 2008. Its five-year term in office has been marked by near-constant political crises and a rocky relationship with the country's powerful military.

But President Asif Ali Zardari has shown a remarkable ability to hold together a warring coalition government whose members threaten to quit every few months or so. Zardari is the widow of Benazir Bhutto, the iconic PPP leader who returned from exile in 2007 only to be killed later that year during a campaign rally.

Zardari has managed a balance between the need for U.S. assistance amid a deteriorating relationship between the two countries and rising anti-American sentiment.

Washington needs Pakistan's help fighting al-Qaida and stabilizing neighboring Afghanistan, but a series of recent scandals have severely damaged ties. CIA contractor Raymond Davis shot and killed two Pakistani men in Lahore in early 2011, the U.S. unilaterally killed Osama bin Laden in the city of Abbottabad later that year and American forces accidentally killed 24 Pakistani troops along the Afghan border in 2012.

The Zardari-led coalition government has had some success fighting Islamist militants along several fronts in Pakistan's northwest but it has been under tremendous pressure domestically due to rising inflation, a faltering economy and an acute energy crises.

Now that the parliament and government are dissolved, a caretaker government will run the country and oversee elections.

But so far the ruling PPP and the main opposition party headed by Nawaz Sharif, who served as prime minister twice, have failed to come up with a consensus candidate for prime minister. An eight-member committee consisting of equal members from both parties is meeting Wednesday to come up with a candidate they each agree on.

If the committee fails, the responsibility will then fall to the Pakistan Election Commission. The caretaker government is designed to ensure impartiality in the upcoming vote.

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