Five Pakistani soldiers die in suicide attack

A suicide bomber Thursday rammed his explosives-laden car into a military vehicle outside a brigade headquarters in Pakistan’s restive tribal region bordering Afghanistan. Five soldiers were killed and 11 wounded, the military said.

The attack came as Vice President Dick Cheney was visiting Afghanistan for talks with President Hamid Karzai, during which both leaders emphasized the importance of Pakistan’s role in the fight against Islamic extremism.

Pakistan is in the midst of a political transition after last month’s parliamentary elections in which President Pervez Musharraf’s party suffered a resounding defeat. Musharraf is considered a key U.S. ally in confronting the Taliban and Al Qaeda, but it is not yet known to what extent the incoming coalition government dominated by his opponents will hew to American wishes.

Cheney, asked in the Afghan capital of Kabul about the level of cooperation expected from the new Pakistani administration, pointedly noted that “a government has an obligation to control its sovereign territory, to make certain that that territory doesn’t become a safe haven for . . . terrorist groups intending to do harm to others.”

The Pakistanis “have as big a stake as anyone else in dealing with the threat that sometimes emerges from those areas along the border,” he said.

The Bush administration has long wanted Pakistan’s government to do more to rein in Islamic militants who have made the tribal areas their sanctuary. But the cause is an unpopular one in Pakistan, made even more so with the dramatic drop-off in Musharraf’s popularity.

Direct U.S. military action in Pakistan is forbidden, but the former general has given tacit permission for such strikes -- a state of affairs that may not continue after the new government is formed.

Parliament is to meet Monday to vote on a new prime minister, but the top vote-getting party, that of slain former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, has not yet named its candidate for the post.

Bhutto’s widower, Asif Ali Zardari, has signaled that he may seek the job for himself, but since he does not hold a parliamentary seat, he would have to choose someone to serve as interim prime minister until he can win a by-election and secure a seat.

Bhutto’s son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who serves as ceremonial head of the party, has arrived in Pakistan and is to make the announcement of the prime ministerial candidate, the Pakistan People’s Party said. The 19-year-old Bhutto is still a student at Oxford and ineligible to run for office until he is 25, but his presence shows he already is being drawn into the country’s roiling political scene.

Analysts said Zardari may seek to deflect criticism by having some hint of his prospective candidacy delivered by his son, who is regarded with affection and sympathy by many Pakistanis. Zardari, by contrast, is still widely mistrusted over allegations of corruption, even though the last pending charges against him were dropped last week.

One big challenge facing the new government will be the question of reinstating judges fired by Musharraf last year during emergency rule.

The deposed chief justice, Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, made a rare public statement Thursday, speaking by cellphone to a lawyers gathering in the eastern city of Lahore. Chaudhry, who has been under house arrest since November, urged colleagues to keep fighting for the restoration of the judiciary.

“God willing, this struggle will continue until we succeed,” he told them.

As the change of government moves ahead, suicide bombings have been a near-daily occurrence.

The attack Thursday, just outside South Waziristan’s main town of Wana, followed a pattern of recent strikes by suspected militants, which have targeted Pakistani troops and military installations.

A militant group in the tribal areas, loyal to a commander named Maulvi Nazir, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was in retaliation for a missile strike this week that killed at least 18 suspected insurgents loyal to a pro-Taliban commander. At least some of the dead were thought to be foreign militants.

That strike was widely blamed on the United States, which did not accept or deny responsibility, though in the past it has targeted suspected Al Qaeda figures sheltering in the tribal lands. The Pakistani military said it had not carried out the attack.

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laura.king@latimes.com

Special correspondent Zulfiqar Ali in Peshawar, Pakistan, contributed to this report.