Media Watch Desi: Bachcha Jamhoora Spared,

Bachcha Jamhoora to name the new PM. Sad to see a teenager being used this way. Only in Pakistan would you find men behaving not like men. MQM withdraws the candidature of Dr. Farooq Sattar. What a joke. The dimunitive doctor had no chance to get elected. Goldy is beginning to have "fun" at the people's expense.

Update: Better sense prevailed and the teenager prodigy was spared the ignominy. The statenment was "read" by Farhatullah Babar naming Yusuf Raza Gilani as the "PM."

PPP names choice for Pakistani PM

Ex-Speaker Yusuf Raza Gillani had been front-runner for the post

The late Benazir Bhutto's party has named its candidate for prime minister, after winning last month's elections.

The Pakistan People's Party nominated ex-Speaker Yusuf Raza Gillani for the post to lead a coalition government with ex-PM Nawaz Sharif's PML(N) party.

Analysts say the appointment is widely expected to be a stop-gap measure and Ms Bhutto's widower, Asif Ali Zardari, may be poised to eventually take over.

The coalition is expected to try to curb President Musharraf's powers.

Pakistan to Talk With Militants, New Leaders Say - Jane Perlez

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Faced with a sharp escalation of suicide bombings in urban areas, the leaders of Pakistan’s new coalition government say they will negotiate with the militants believed to be orchestrating the attacks, and will use military force only as a last resort.

That talk has alarmed American officials, who fear it reflects a softening stance toward the militants just as President Pervez Musharraf has given the Bush administration a freer hand to strike at militants using pilotless Predator drones.

Many Pakistanis, however, are convinced that the surge in suicide bombings — 17 in the first 10 weeks of 2008 — is retaliation for three Predator strikes since the beginning of the year. The spike in attacks, combined with the crushing defeat of Mr. Musharraf’s party in February parliamentary elections, has brought demands for change in his American-backed policies.

[more later]