Pakistani Prime Minister-in-waiting Shaukat Aziz Friday escaped unhurt in an apparent suicide bomb attack in an election rally, which killed six people and injured 25 others, private GEO television reported.

The attack happened after Aziz, now finance minister, attended an elections rally in the town of Fateh Jang, about 50 kilometers southwest of the capital in eastern Punjab province, ruling Pakistan Muslim League Secretary General Mushahid Hussain said.

He described the attack as act of terrorism and believed that the attack was the work of the same people who tried in Dec. 2003 to assassinate President Pervez Musharraf.

"The attack has further strengthened my resolve to serve Pakistan," Aziz told state-run Pakistan Television (PTV). He offered condolences on the deaths and expressed sympathy with the bereaved families.

Aziz was shown on PTV some two hours after the attack.

President Musharraf and Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain condemned the suicide attack and ordered immediate inquiry into the attack.

Information and Broadcasting Sheikh Rashid said the attack was an attempt to destabilize the democratic process in the country. He stressed security arrangements for VIPs need to be improved and that security officials should be trained more properly.

Aziz, 55, is a banker and senator. He has to win a seat in the National Assembly, or lower house, before he becomes the prime minister according to the country's constitution.

Aziz was named by the ruling party as the PM-in-waiting in June, when former Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali stepped down and was replaced by Chaudhry Shujat Hussain, an assumedly make-shift choice.

Aziz is expected to take over as premier for the rest of Shujaat Hussain's term once he is elected to the National Assembly, ruling party officials said.

The ruling party has vacated two seats in the National Assembly for Aziz, one in eastern Punjab and the other in southern Sindh to enable him to run.

Aziz, a former employee of Citibank in New York, is widely credited with turning around Pakistan's economy which was close to bankruptcy in 1999.

But his candidacy is opposed by many who think he is too close to the United States. And the opposition parties have fielded joint candidates to block his entry into the lower house of the parliament.
 
(Xinhua News Agency July 31, 2004)