Bhutto's widower to stand for president

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Aug. 23 (UPI) -- The widower of slain Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has accepted his party's presidential nomination, the Pakistan People's Party announced Saturday.

Asif Ali Zardar's nomination as the successor to President Pervez Musharraf is a controversial one, the BBC reports. The PPP's partner in the government coalition, the Pakistani Muslim League-N headed by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, does not support him.

Zardari faces disunion in the country, as well as dissent in the coalition. Sharif, has threatened to leave if judges ousted by former President Pervez Musharraf are not reinstated.

The PPP picked Zardari Friday. The president is to be selected Sept. 6 by a vote of Parliament and the four provincial assemblies.

Since Musharraf resigned under threat of impeachment, there has been an upsurge in violence by religious radicals. On Saturday, a Taliban bombing killed four people in the Swat Valley. Earlier this week, suicide bombings at a hospital and a weapons factory killed about 100 people and injured scores more.