Reuters: New PM for Pakistan 25 March

Pakistan's president Pervez Musharraf will face further political isolation after the swearing-in of the country's likely new prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani.

President Pervez Musharraf has asked the National Assembly to re-convene on Monday to elect the new prime minister with Gilani almost guaranteed to win.

Prime Minister Soe Win, 58, presumed to have been the architect of an attack on supporters of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in 2003, was believed to be suffering from leukaemia and had been treated for several months in a top Singapore hospital. Video shot by pro-democracy activists in Myanmar, showing September's monk-led demonstrations and the crackdown that followed, has been smuggled out of the country.

Bhutto returned to Pakistan to lead her pakistan people's party ito national elections to return the country to civilian rule. But her return has provoked hard-liners, angry at her support for the United States war on terrorism and militants linked to Al Queda have threatened to assassinate her.

Benazir Bhutto was prime minister of Pakistan twice and became the first female leader of a Muslim nation in 1988, following the mysterious death of military dictator Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq.

Musharraf's action dealt a sharp blow to the Bush administration, which had appealed to him not to declare emergency rule.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki vowed on Thursday to pursue a crackdown on Shiite gunmen despite mounting casualties, as Iraqi troops battled militias in the cities of Basra and Kut. In Baghdad, followers of the Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr staged noisy protests. Images and soundbites from AFPTV.

Under Palestinian law, an emergency government can stay in power for up to 30 days. The state of emergency could be extended for another period of 30 days, but only after winning the approval of two thirds of parliament. Hamas holds a majority in the Palestinian Legislative Council though Israeli arrests of its deputies makes it difficult to reach a quorum and hold decision-making sessions.

Ending eight years of self exile, Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan with hopes of ending the military regime, and to steer the country towards democracy.