Pakistan blast toll hits 35

The death toll in a massive suicide blast in Pakistan’s militant-plagued north-west reached 35, officials said today, as the country prepared for the widower of assassinated ex-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto to take over as president.

The attack yesterday demonstrated the severe militant threat facing the Muslim nation and President-elect Asif Ali Zardari, who overwhelmingly won MPs’ votes the same day as the blast and was expected to be sworn in by Tuesday.

Mr Zardari has vowed to be tough on militancy, a stance that plays well in Washington, where US officials worried about rising violence in neighbouring Afghanistan have pushed Pakistan to clamp down on extremist havens along its borders.

Nonetheless, Mr Zardari has a fine line to walk. Coming down too hard on insurgent activity risks inflaming Pakistani public opinion and even a tribal uprising. At the same time, he faces pressure from opponents to reduce the powers of the presidency, something he and his party have vowed to do without specifying the extent.

Ahsan Iqbal, a spokesman for the chief opposition party, told Dawn News Television that Mr Zardari’s election was simply a stop along the way to restoring full democracy in Pakistan, and that the transition required giving up some of the president’s powers.

The president has the power to dissolve Parliament and appoint army chiefs, and chairs the joint civilian-military committee that controls Pakistan’s nuclear weapons.

“Parliament is sovereign,” Mr Zardari told a group of well-wishers on Saturday. “This president shall be subservient to the Parliament.”

Dozens were wounded in Saturday’s attack, in which an explosives-packed pickup truck blew up at a police checkpoint on the outskirts of Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province.

Television footage showed a blast crater 3 feet deep, destroyed vehicles and pieces of debris scattered across a large area. Some buildings in a nearby market collapsed, leading civilians to dig frantically with their hands to find survivors.

Taliban spokesman Maulvi Umar said Taliban militants operating in the area carried out the attack but apparently had another target in mind – as officials had theorised, given the large amount of explosives used. He speculated the driver feared being discovered at the checkpoint and decided to detonate.

“We have a number of targets in different areas and I think the vehicle was heading to one of them,” Umar said.

He said there had been no plan to attack the checkpoint, but the Taliban were satisfied because seven policemen were killed.

Today, the Election Commission said Mr Zardari’s win had been certified. His aides said he could be sworn in within a couple of days.

Newspaper editorials marking Mr Zardari’s ascent noted that a recent US-led ground assault in a tribal region along the Afghan border signalled American impatience with Pakistan’s progress in battling insurgents.

Far from being confident, however, the opinion pieces warned that Mr Zardari is yet unproven and still tainted by a history of corruption allegations.

“What Mr. Zardari needs to do is to dispel the impression that he is a political wheeler-dealer who is adept at making back-room deals but unable to rise to the requirements of statesmanship,” said an editorial in Dawn, a leading English-language newspaper.