Asia

Asia

Zardari names new Punjab governor

11 January 2011 20:14 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. President Asif Ali Zardari appoints one of his closest allies as a successor to slain governor of Pakistan’s most politically important province of Punjab, APA reports quoting Press TV.

Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said on Tuesday that former attorney general Senator Latif Khosa would get the job in the country’s largest and wealthiest province.

"The president has approved the name of Mr. Latif Khosa as governor of Punjab a short while ago," Babar said.

The powerful governor of Punjab province, Salman Taseer, was killed by his bodyguard in a shooting in capital Islamabad last Tuesday.

According to the interior ministry, the high-profile member of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and a close ally of Zardari was killed because of his opposition to the controversial blasphemy law.

Zardari has vowed to expose Taseer’s killers.

Taseer’s death has come at a time when the Islamabad government is trying to tackle the growing militancy, political instability and economic crisis in the country.

Pakistan has a history of military takeovers and political unrest since it secured independence from Britain in 1947.