Bhutto's husband speaks out on poll

Asif Ali Zardari, husband of the late Benazir Bhutto and now leading spokesman for her Pakistan People's Party, has laid down a series of criteria that President Musharraf must meet for the country's 18 February elections to be deemed "free, fair and credible".

Writing for today's Independent on Sunday, he says the elections must be "conducted under a new, neutral caretaker government... supervised by a truly independent and autonomous election commission... monitored by international observers with unfettered access to all polling stations... arbitrated by an independent judiciary". He adds that there "must be a restoration of full electronic and print press freedoms... and all political activists, lawyers and judges in detention must be released".

Meanwhile, Scotland Yard's Counter Terrorism Command team arrived yesterday under police guard at the site of Ms Bhutto's assassination in Rawalpindi, visiting rooftops of buildings surrounding the ground and taking photos.