Islamabad, Aug. 19 (Reuters): Pakistani finance minister Shaukat Aziz easily won a seat in parliament, clearing the way for him to take over as Prime Minister next week, officials said today.

The former Citibank executive bagged 76,161 votes against 29,443 for his main opponent in Attock district of central Punjab province, where he narrowly survived a suicide bombing on July 30, an Election Commission official said.

His driver and eight others were killed in the attack that officials have linked to the al Qaida network. Aziz, 55, who Musharraf picked to be Prime Minister in June after the abrupt resignation of the incumbent, also trounced his opponent in a second byelection in Tharparkar, Sindh province, by securing 152,102 votes against the rival’s 10,732. “I will try my level best to improve the life of country’s common man and make efforts to maintain peace and harmony in the country,” the official APP news agency quoted Aziz as saying.

Legislators from the two constituencies resigned to allow Aziz to win a National Assembly seat, a prerequisite to be Prime Minister. Candidates can win multiple seats, but retain only one. The results of yesterday’s voting are unofficial and will be formally announced later in the week.

Foreigners arrested

Pakistani police arrested an Algerian and one other foreigner suspected of links with al Qaida today in Peshawar after a shoot-out, intelligence officials said. The Algerian, identified as Mohammad Fauzi, was wounded in the neck when police opened fire at him after he threw a hand grenade at them while trying to escape along with another foreign militant in a vehicle, an intelligence official said. The suspected militants took shelter in a religious school where Fauzi was arrested.