PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Police say an explosion outside a court in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar has killed two people and 10 wounded.
Police officer Saleem Khan said that the authorities were investigating the nature of Monday's explosion.
Islamic militants have carried out numerous attacks in Pakistan in recent months, including several in Peshawar. The city is the main gateway to the tribal belt, where al-Qaida and the Taliban have faced the military offensives.
The building housed the blast site and district courts below.
THIS IS AN UPDATE TO LAST MINUTE NEWS. Check back soon for more information. Previous article from the AP is down.
ISLAMABAD (AP) - Pakistan's Supreme Court began hearing a case Monday against an amnesty that had protected the President Asif Ali Zardari and many of the key allies of the graft charges.
The process could lead to challenges against the legality of the rule, an ally of President like Obama administration needs stability in Islamabad to help crack down on militants near the Afghan border.
Court officer Azhar Hussain said the 17-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, began hearing the petitions, but gave no other details.
The meeting took place two weeks after the expiry of the amnesty that was granted under a deal backed by his former military leader Pervez Musharraf to Zardari's late wife, former Prime Minister Bhutto to return from exile in 2007 and run for an office safe in the knowledge that it would not be prosecuted for corruption charges.
Speculation about the future of Zardari has intensified after it was forced to abandon an effort to get Parliament to approve the amnesty that was granted and more than 8,000 government bureaucrats and politicians have immunity from a series of corruption and criminal charges .
Zardari, who has denied any wrongdoing, has general immunity from prosecution as president, but the Supreme Court could choose to challenge his eligibility for office, whether the amnesty is declared illegal.
The U.S. and other Western nations supported the candidature of Ms Bhutto, who was seen as a secular politician and pro-Western. But Bhutto, who was expelled from his post twice in the 1990s due to alleged mismanagement and corruption, was killed by a suicide bomber shortly after his return to Pakistan. Zardari took over as co-chairman of his party and was elected president in September 2008 by federal and regional legislators.
The political turmoil comes as the administration of President Barack Obama is stepping up efforts to defeat the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan and in Pakistan's northwestern border. To have much hope of success, the U.S. needs a stable government in Pakistan committed to fight against the militants accused of attacks in both countries.
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