Bhutto loyalist elected as Pakistani PM

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Source: Associated Press

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A longtime loyalist of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was elected Pakistan's new prime minister Monday and immediately freed judges detained by President Pervez Musharraf.

The release of the judges was a powerful symbol of Musharraf's slipping authority since Bhutto's party swept parliamentary elections last month.

The newly elected prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, will form a new government dominated by Musharraf's foes, who have vowed to slash the U.S.-backed president's sweeping powers and review his counterterrorism policies.

Minutes after parliament elected Gilani, dozens of political activists and lawyers climbed over a wall surrounding the home of deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, who had been under house arrest since November.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080324/ap_on_re_as/pakistan_politics;_ylt=AjfToqvdGM8WmWRAnbJh4CCs0NUE