Gilani endorsed as Pakistani PM

Pakistan's National Assembly yesterday elected as prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, a top official in assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's party, five weeks after it won a general election.

In an immediate challenge to President Pervez Musharraf, Gilani said he would order the immediate release of judges Musharraf detained after he declared emergency rule in November.

He also called on parliament to pass a resolution seeking a UN investigation into Bhutto's assassination on December 27 in a gun and bomb attack blamed on Islamist militants.