Benazir Bhutto's widower Zardari elected as new Pakistani president as car bomb kills 16

Benazir Bhutto's widower was elected as Pakistan's president today - even as a suicide bombing gave warning of a rocky path ahead.

Asif Ali Zardari succeeds the former leader, General Pervez Musharraf, who resigned last month. Mr Zardari's wife was killed in a suicide attack last year.

The question for the new leader is whether he will be any more successful than Mr Musharraf in tackling Islamic extremism and the economic malaise.

As if to underline the difficulties he faces, a suicide car bomber killed 16 people and wounded 40 in an attack on a police station in Peshawar, north-western Pakistan.

Mr Zardari, head of the ruling Pakistan People's Party, faced two less well-regarded opponents when members of the two-chamber parliament and four provincial assemblies met to choose a new president today.

He won 480 out of 702 votes, according to unofficial results.

'It's not only a victory for Mr Zardari and the Pakistan People's Party but it's a victory for Benazir Bhutto's dream of a democratic political system,' said Bhutto party spokeswoman Farzana Raja as party workers chanted 'Long live Bhutto!'

Mr Zardari, 53, was a polo-playing playboy in his younger days and later spent 11 years in prison on corruption and murder charges. He was never convicted and says the charges were politically motivated.

His party was part of a coalition which swept to power in February elections on a mostly anti-Musharraf platform, so no major changes in policy are expected.

Rescuers struggle to remove debris from the suicide blast in Peshawar

Relatives mourn at a hospital after the car-bomb blast

His decision in August to begin impeachment proceedings against General Musharraf led to the leader's resignation.

Like his predecessor, Mr Zardari is generally considered pro-Western and is not expected to change Pakistan's commitment to the 'war on terrorism'.

However, that stance could be challenged after the U.S. carried out a cross-border raid which left at least 15 dead in the country's largely lawless tribal belt along the Afghan frontier.

The raid was condemned as an attack on Pakistan's sovereignty, and Mr Zardari has criticised the actions of the U.S.

Today's bomb in Peshawar destroyed the police post and brought down roofs of nearby buildings, leaving some people buried under the rubble.

Provincial police chief Malik Naveed Khan said the bomber's target was probably the provincial assembly where members were voting at the time.