Party of assassinated Bhutto confers on candidates to lead Pakistan's new government

~ party officials and political analysts said the front-runner was veteran politician Makhdoom Amin Fahim

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- A veteran politician with a reputation as a consensus builder emerged Friday as the favorite to become Pakistan's next prime minister under an agreement by the two biggest opposition parties to form a new government together.

In a sign of the challenges facing the new leadership, 12 people died Friday when a bomb ripped through a truck carrying wedding guests in an area where al-Qaida-linked militants operate. Police said most of the dead were women.

It was the first major attack on Pakistani civilians since Monday's parliamentary elections, in which the ruling party suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of two opposition parties.

The results exposed President Pervez Musharraf's own lack of public support amid a rise in Islamic militancy that has killed hundreds in recent months and anger over his crackdown on the independent judiciary.

Leaders of the Pakistan People's Party -- once headed by assassinated ex-premier Benazir Bhutto -- conferred Friday behind closed doors in Islamabad to discuss its choice to head the next government after the new parliament convenes, probably next month.

No final decision was made, but party officials and political analysts said the front-runner was veteran politician Makhdoom Amin Fahim, 68, a longtime Bhutto loyalist from Sindh province who turned down Musharraf's offer of the premiership in 2002.

Other possible nominees included Shah Mehmood Qureshi, a top People's Party figure from Punjab province, and former National Assembly speaker Yousuf Raza Gilani, party officials and analysts said.

Shafqat Mahmood, a prominent political commentator and former People's Party spokesman, said Fahim was the favorite in part because the party wanted a prime minister from Sindh province, the Bhutto family stronghold. Both Qureshi and Gilani are from Punjab, the biggest and richest of Pakistan's four provinces.

Fahim "is a consensus builder," Mahmood said. "He would be good in a coalition and in papering over differences."

A mild-mannered figure short on charisma, Fahim served as the go-between in contacts between Musharraf and Bhutto during her eight years in exile. He turned down the prime minister's post five years ago because Musharraf wanted him to cut his ties to the Bhutto family.

Bhutto's party won the right to pick the new prime minister by finishing first in Monday's balloting, claiming at least 87 of the 268 contested seats. The Pakistan Muslim League-N of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was second with 67 seats, while the pro-Musharraf party got only 40 seats.

Bhutto's widower, Asif Ali Zardari, and Sharif agreed Thursday to form a new government. Together, the two parties have 154 seats -- sufficient to govern but not enough to impeach Musharraf.

That means the new government must share power with Musharraf, setting the stage for political maneuvering and infighting between the president and a government leadership made up of some of his bitterest rivals.

Sharif and other opposition figures have repeatedly called for Musharraf to step down after voters repudiated his party in the Monday ballot. But Musharraf insists he will serve out the five-year term he was elected to in October by the previous parliament.

The United States, which made Musharraf a key ally in its war on terrorist groups after the Sept. 11 attack has said its relationship with this Muslim nation of 160 million people would continue as before the election.

"We look forward to working with whoever emerges as prime minister, we look forward to working with President Musharraf in his new role," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard A. Boucher told reporters in Brussels, Belgium, on Thursday.

Boucher refused to speculate on what Washington would do if the new parliament demanded Musharraf step down.

On Friday, two Republic legislators from Texas, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Rep. Michael Burgess, met with Musharraf and expressed their appreciation for "the president's leadership and Pakistan's role in the fight against terrorism," according to a U.S. Embassy statement.

Musharraf told the American lawmakers he considered the elections a "victory for the democratic process and for moderation in Pakistan," the U.S. statement said.

No one claimed responsibility for Friday's bombing in Matta, in the Swat valley, where security forces have been battling Islamic militants. But police said a family dispute may have been to blame. Troops quickly cordoned off the area.

At least 12 people were killed and six children wounded, many of them seriously, said Amanullah Khan, a local police official.

"Most of the dead were women," said Akber Ali, an assistant police inspector, adding that their bodies were quickly taken away by relatives.