Insurgents Step Up Fight After Musharraf's Hollow Poll Win

Gun battles raged in Pakistan's tribal belt yesterday as the political system was thrust into limbo after President Pervez Musharraf's controversial election victory on Saturday.

At least 50 militants and 20 soldiers were killed in fighting in North Waziristan, a mountainous area near the Afghan border where al-Qaida foot soldiers and leaders have taken refuge. Local media also reported that another 28 Pakistani troops were kidnapped in Waziristan at the weekend by militants who have held 215 troops hostage since August 30.

The Islamist threat was underscored by militants who vowed to kill the former prime minister Benazir Bhutto when she returns from exile in 10 days' time.

General Musharraf won 98% of the votes cast by an electoral college of both houses of parliament and provincial assemblies on Saturday, thanks to a boycott by opposition parties. The prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, termed it a "great victory for democracy".

But Gen Musharraf's second term is not guaranteed. First he must await the outcome of a supreme court legal challenge by a rival candidate that could overturn his victory. The hearing resumes on October 17 and a decision may take several weeks. Gen Musharraf has refused to rule out emergency rule if the verdict goes against him. "Let them come to their decision, then we will decide," he told reporters.

It will be a tense wait for the general, who has battled to legitimize his rule since coming to power in a 1999 coup. His greatest challenge - and possible opportunity - comes in the form of Ms Bhutto, the Oxford-educated opposition leader who is due to fly into Karachi on October 18.

Unlike Gen Musharraf's fractious political vehicle, Ms Bhutto's People's party enjoys broad support, particularly in rural areas. He is trying to woo her into a power-sharing deal, ahead of a general election due by mid-January. In a gesture of goodwill he dropped long-standing corruption charges against Ms Bhutto on Friday.

The deal, however, has sparked much discontent in both parties. Ms Bhutto's critics charge her with trading her future against the party's core principle of opposing military rule. She also faces an ominous security challenge. Last week, Baitullah Mehsood, a leader of the Waziristan-based Pakistani Taliban, vowed to send suicide bombers to kill her once she lands in Karachi. Ms Bhutto courted controversy last week by promising that if she is elected prime minister, she will hand over the disgraced nuclear scientist AQ Khan for international questioning.

Sections of Gen Musharraf's party are also unhappy at the deal with Ms Bhutto.

He may also be cornered by his pledge to hand over the reigns of army head to a former intelligence chief, Lieutenant General Ashfaq Kiyani, by November 15. With the supreme court decision pending, the timing of that handover is now in doubt.