Bomb kills 27 people in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A suicide car-bomb attack outside aPakistani election candidate's office killed 27 people onSaturday, the last day of campaigning for a general electionmeant to complete a transition to civilian rule.

Police in the south of the country said they had foiledanother attack planned for polling day on Monday.

Campaigning for the elections to a new parliament andprovincial assemblies has been overshadowed by security fears,especially since former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto waskilled in a gun and suicide bomb attack on December 27.Opposition politicians have also complained of vote rigging.

The poll could spell trouble for President PervezMusharraf, a key U.S. ally who stepped down as army chief inNovember, if voters elect a parliament hostile to him.

Voting was postponed from January 8 following Bhutto'sassassination which raised fears about the nuclear-armedcountry's stability.

Saturday's suspected bomb attack in the town of Parachinar,in the Kurram region on the Afghan border, occurred assupporters of a candidate backed by Bhutto's party were goinginto his office after a rally, witnesses said.

"Twenty-seven deaths have been confirmed and 90 people werewounded," said Fida Mohammad, a top government official in thetown. The Interior Ministry said it was a suicide car bomb.

Police in the southern city of Hyderabad said on Saturdaythey had arrested three suspected suicide bombers and seized 10kg (22 lb) of explosives and a suicide-bomb jacket.

"It seems they were planning to attack polling stations,"said a police official.

The violence, especially the attack on Bhutto, has unnervedpoliticians and voters, and turnout on Monday could be lowdespite the deployment of more than 80,000 troops.

Pakistanis are also concerned about rising prices andshortages of basic commodities such as wheat flour, and evermore frequent power cuts.

Many are disillusioned with all politicians.

"It'll be very difficult to change this country," saidMohammad Abbas, who works in a rice shop in Sabboki town inPunjab province. "Whatever the politicians do they do forthemselves, not for change."

Campaigning ends at midnight. Sunday is a cooling-off day.

COALITION LIKELY

The elections follow months of political turmoil over theincreasingly unpopular Musharraf's efforts to stay in power.

Opposition parties say Musharraf's allies have been engagedin widespread pre-poll rigging.

Two-time prime minister Bhutto had been hoping to win andher Pakistan People's Party is expected to reap a sympathyvote.

But with none of the main parties -- the PPP, the PakistanMuslim League that backs Musharraf, and the party of anotherformer prime minister, Nawaz Sharif -- expected to secure amajority, a coalition between two of the three is likely.

Sharif and Bhutto's widower, Asif Ali Zardari, who isleading her party into the vote, met in Lahore on Saturday andwarned of trouble if they were robbed of victory.

"If the opposition is deprived of its rightful place in theelections, I think that will be very dangerous. ... It willthrow the country into very chaotic situation," Sharif told anews conference.

Zardari told reporters he expected to win but he doubtedthe vote would be fair. "If they want to rig the election, thatwe will not take sitting down," he said.

Asked about his talks with Sharif, Zardari said: "Wediscussed the fact than we can have a broad-based government... the political forces can take responsibility for thecountry."

Musharraf rejects complaints of rigging and says procedureshave been refined to prevent cheating.

He said on Saturday he was positive the vote would be fairand peaceful and that he hoped for a stable government.

"We will ensure a successful fight against terrorism andextremism and we will ensure sustaining economic growth," thestate news agency reported Musharraf as saying.

Nearly 81 million people, about half the country'spopulation, are registered to vote. Several hundred foreignobservers will be monitoring but they have not been allowed toconduct exit polls.

(Additional reporting by Augustine Anthony In Islamabad,Hamid Shaikh in Hyderabad, Jon Hemming and Kamran Haider inLahore)

(Writing by Robert Birsel, editing by Mary Gabriel)