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Issue date: 3/26/08 Section: News
Musharraf swears in Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani as U.S. envoys meet new leaders
1 ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - President Pervez Musharraf swore in a loyalist of slain ex-leader Benazir Bhutto as prime minister Tuesday, while two top American envoys held talks with Pakistan's old and new leaders in what some viewed as an ill-timed visit.
Yousaf Raza Gilani, who will front a new government vowing to cut back the U.S.-backed president's powers, took the oath from Musharraf at a stiff ceremony in Islamabad.
Seated side-by-side on a raised dais and flanked by two honor guards with white and gold-braided uniform, Gilani followed the president's lead in reading the oath of office.
Members of Gilani's party chanted "Long Live Bhutto!" after the formalities were complete.
Musharraf betrayed no emotion during the ceremony but gave Gilani a firm handshake and chatted amiably with him as they headed for refreshments in the presidential palace.
Iraqi security forces clash with militias in Basra, al-Sadr puts commanders on alert
2 BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraqi forces clashed with Shiite militias in the southern oil port of Basra on Tuesday as a security plan to clamp down on violence between rival militia factions in the region began.
With tensions rising, Muqtada al-Sadr's headquarters in Najaf ordered field commanders with his Mahdi Army militia to go on high alert and prepare "to strike the occupiers" and their Iraqi allies, a militia officer said.
The officer, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't supposed to release the information, also said the movement had ordered its supporters to join a civil disobedience campaign nationwide.
Al-Sadr has imposed a cease-fire on his militia fighters, a move that is one of the key factors in a steep drop in violence over the past several months.
Gunmen also attacked an office and clashed with guards from the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council at the entrance of Baghdad's main Mahdi Army stronghold of Sadr City, police said. SIIC's armed wing, the Badr Brigade, is the main rival of the Mahdi Army.
1 ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - President Pervez Musharraf swore in a loyalist of slain ex-leader Benazir Bhutto as prime minister Tuesday, while two top American envoys held talks with Pakistan's old and new leaders in what some viewed as an ill-timed visit.
Yousaf Raza Gilani, who will front a new government vowing to cut back the U.S.-backed president's powers, took the oath from Musharraf at a stiff ceremony in Islamabad.
Seated side-by-side on a raised dais and flanked by two honor guards with white and gold-braided uniform, Gilani followed the president's lead in reading the oath of office.
Members of Gilani's party chanted "Long Live Bhutto!" after the formalities were complete.
Musharraf betrayed no emotion during the ceremony but gave Gilani a firm handshake and chatted amiably with him as they headed for refreshments in the presidential palace.
Iraqi security forces clash with militias in Basra, al-Sadr puts commanders on alert
2 BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraqi forces clashed with Shiite militias in the southern oil port of Basra on Tuesday as a security plan to clamp down on violence between rival militia factions in the region began.
With tensions rising, Muqtada al-Sadr's headquarters in Najaf ordered field commanders with his Mahdi Army militia to go on high alert and prepare "to strike the occupiers" and their Iraqi allies, a militia officer said.
The officer, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't supposed to release the information, also said the movement had ordered its supporters to join a civil disobedience campaign nationwide.
Al-Sadr has imposed a cease-fire on his militia fighters, a move that is one of the key factors in a steep drop in violence over the past several months.
Gunmen also attacked an office and clashed with guards from the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council at the entrance of Baghdad's main Mahdi Army stronghold of Sadr City, police said. SIIC's armed wing, the Badr Brigade, is the main rival of the Mahdi Army.
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