Islamabad, Sept. 7: Baloch nationalist leaders and analysts have said that President-elect Asif Ali Zardari would need to galvanise the government into reviewing its policy towards the restive Balochistan province.

Islamabad, Sept. 7 : Foreign and domestic leaders have hailed the election of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari, as the president of Pakistan.

Zardari secured 281 of the 426 parliamentary votes and won a thumping majority in three of the four provincial assemblies.

The United States was among the first countries to congratulate Zardari.

Washington - The United States welcomed as a positive sign Pakistan's election of a civilian president and government, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Saturday.

"The civilian government of Pakistan is something that we have welcomed after the free and fair elections. And now, with the new president, I think we have got a good way forward," Rice told reporters on the way to from Tunisia to Algeria.

Islamabad, Sept 6: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairman, Asif Ali Zardari has been elected as the 11th President of the Pakistan.

Zardari was elected through a secret ballot by the two chambers of its Parliament, the National Assembly and Senate, and the four Provincial Assemblies.

The other contestants in the Presidential election were Justice Saeed-uz-Zaman Siddiqui of Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) and Mushahid Hussain Syed of Pakistan Muslim League- Quaid (PML-Q).

Islamabad - The voting for the Pakistani presidential elections ended and counting was going on in two houses of the national parliament and four provincial assemblies Saturday.

According to the initial unofficial results, Asif Ali Zardari, widower of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, was leading in two provincial assemblies.

Islamabad, Sept 6 : Though his party the PPP has brought forth strong defence in support of his mental health, some of his party insiders say that PPP Co-chairman and presidential hopeful Asif Ali Zardari seems paranoid at times because of intense public scrutiny, numerous threats to his life and his wife''s highly public assassination last year.

According to the Washington Post, Zardari''s circle of trusted aides and advisers is “relatively small as a result”.