September 9, 2008 - Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, is set to be sworn in as Pakistan's president.  The inauguration follows Mr Zardari's sweeping victory in presidential election by legislators on Saturday.

The polls were called after Pervez Musharraf resigned rather than risk being impeached.

Mr Zardari faces severe economic problems and a rampant Islamist insurgency that is threatening Pakistan's stability.

During Saturday's voting, a bomb killed at least 30 people near Peshawar city.

Pakistan's president is elected by secret ballots in the national and four provincial assemblies.

Mr Zardari won 481 votes out of 702, far more than the 352 votes that would have guaranteed him victory, leaving his two rivals trailing far behind.

Tuesday's inauguration will serve as a venue for Mr Zardari to be internationally recognised, with expected guests such as Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says.

Mr Zardari will also have a chance to set out his priorities in the first presidential news conference after taking oath, our correspondent says. So far, he has promised to promote national reconciliation, trying to offset fears that he will play destructive partisan politics.

His greatest challenge, though, will be how to develop an effective policy to deal with the Islamist insurgency; and how to deal with an increasingly aggressive American ally, which has stepped up direct strikes against militant targets in Pakistan's border region, our correspondent says.

Mr Zardari was thrust into the centre of political power by the killing of Ms Bhutto last December after which he became head of the PPP. He is one of Pakistan's most controversial politicians.

For years he has been hounded by allegations of massive corruption - although he has never been convicted.

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif took his PML-N party out of the governing coalition last week, accusing Mr Zardari of breaking key promises.

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