Pakistan set to choose president

Pakistani lawmakers are set to vote in a presidential election, even though it is not clear if President Pervez Musharraf has the legal right to run.

Gen Musharraf is expected to win the vote in parliament and the country's four provincial assemblies.

But Pakistan's Supreme Court says no winner can be announced until it rules if he can stand while still army chief.

A deal with former PM Benazir Bhutto means her supporters will not join an opposition boycott of the election.

On Friday Gen Musharraf dropped corruption charges against Ms Bhutto - a stride towards an expected power-sharing deal.

President Musharraf hopes the reconciliation agreement, as it is called, will add credibility to his government.

Ms Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) is the largest in the country.

'Just a formality'

Pakistan has been engulfed in political upheaval in recent months, at the same time as the security forces have suffered a series of blows from pro-Taleban militants opposed to Gen Musharraf's support for the US-led "war on terror".

HAVE YOUR SAY If both the sides are serious, it should work. This should bring the much-desired stability to Pakistan Bijal Bhatt, Auckland, New Zealand

Gen Musharraf will step down as army chief, but only if he wins the election, his lawyers have said.

Voting is due to take place from 1000 to 1500 (0500 to 0900 GMT).

But Friday's ruling by the Supreme Court throws the presidential election into confusion.

The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says government officials called the decision a formality but analysts said it was a serious setback that would place a question mark over the legitimacy of the poll.

It means that even if Gen Musharraf does get the most votes he cannot be declared winner until the court has decided if he was a valid candidate in the first place.

KEY DATES 06 Oct: Presidential vote due to be held 17 Oct: Supreme Court to resume hearing challenges to Musharraf candidacy 18 Oct: Date ex-PM Benazir Bhutto has set for her homecoming 15 Nov: Parliamentary term ends and general election must be held by mid-January

Last week the court dismissed a number of earlier objections filed by Gen Musharraf's opponents on technical grounds.

That led to fresh petitions being filed this week.

The judges said they would not make a final decision before 17 October, which coincides with the day Ms Bhutto says she will return from years of self-imposed exile.

Correspondents say Gen Musharraf was waiting for the court's verdict before formalising a power-sharing deal with Ms Bhutto.

The ordnance signed into law on Friday exempts any person charged with - but not convicted of - corruption between 3 January 1986 and 12 October 1999.

Correspondents say it is designed to exclude another former Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, whose corruption cases date from 2000.

The amnesty paves the way for Ms Bhutto's return to contest parliamentary elections scheduled to be held by mid-January.