Sindh provisional assembly opens amid emotional scenes

Islamabad: The new assembly in Pakistan's southern Sindh province became functional on Saturday as the provincial lawmakers took oath at an inaugural session marked by slogans hailing slain leader Benazir Bhutto.

Of the 168 members of the assembly, 160 were sworn in while seven seats remained vacant due to the death of a member-elect and litigation over the results in six seats.

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has 92 seats in the assembly, followed by Mutahidda Qaumi Movement (MQM) with 51.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) has 11 seats.

MQM legislators took oath in Urdu while most others did so in Sindhi. Only four members including the two Awami National Party member took oath in English.

Speaker Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah administered the oath.

Emotional PPP workers shouted slogans against the PML-Q and President Pervez Musharraf. A PML-Q member, Arbab Gulam Rahim, the former Sindh chief minister, was mobbed and he left without taking the oath, witnesses said.

Rahim later alleged that the PPP had planned the assault against him.

The assembly passed a resolution moved by PPP chief minister-designate Qaim Ali Shah, recommending to the federal government to declare the 1979 hanging of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto a judicial murder and to tender an apology to the nation. The assembly also paid tribute to Benazir Bhutto and called for a UN probe into her assassination in December last year.