The Taliban said the bombings were in response to a fierce Pakistani military operation against militants that has unfolded over the past two weeks in the tribal region of Bajaur. The insurgents threatened more suicide attacks if the government continued its military campaign.  Leaders of the governing coalition met in Islamabad on Friday to discuss a plan to reinstate judges deposed by Mr. Musharraf during a state of emergency last November, a move that contributed to his downfall.  One leading member of the governing coalition, former Prime Minister Nawaz al-Sharif, the head of Pakistan Muslim League-N, has threatened to pull out of the coalition if the judges are not reinstated.  Kanwar Muhammad Dilshad, secretary of the Election Commission, said at a news conference in Islamabad on Friday that nomination papers will be filed Tuesday and will be considered on Thursday. Members of Parliament and the four provincial assemblies will vote on Sept. 6, and the result will be announced on the same day.  The ruling coalition has wavered on the issue of restoration of the judges, despite showing unity in engineering the ouster of Mr. Musharraf.  The reinstatement of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and other Supreme Court and high court judges fired by Mr. Musharraf was one of Mr. Sharif’s main election promises. On Friday, at a press briefing in Islamabad, Mr. Sharif said a drafting committee would finalize a resolution for the reinstatement of the judges over the weekend and that it would be introduced in Parliament on Monday.  “After debate,” he said, “it should be passed on Wednesday and judges should be restored.”  Mr. Sharif said he would not accept the reinstatement of judges if it did not include Mr. Chaudhry. “Without him, the restoration of the judiciary will be a joke,” he said.  Despite Mr. Sharif’s deadline of Wednesday, other members of the ruling coalition, especially the Pakistan Peoples Party, appeared to be in no rush.  Mr. Zardari fears that Mr. Chaudhry, if reinstated, might undo an amnesty agreement that absolved Mr. Zardari of corruption charges. The amnesty was part of a package arranged by Mr. Musharraf when Mr. Zardari returned to Pakistan after his wife, Ms. Bhutto, was assassinated in December.  Some members of the Pakistan Peoples Party said Mr. Sharif’s demands on the judiciary were distracting the government from other pressing issues as its leaders focused instead on keeping the fledgling governing coalition together.  “The biggest problem we face is militancy in the North-West Frontier Province,” said Sheik Mansoor Ahmed, a senior Pakistan Peoples Party official. “There is great resentment in the southwestern Baluchistan province against the federation. The economy is a shambles.”  “There are far more important issues than the restoration of judiciary,” he said.
The country’s main ruling party put forward Asif Ali Zardari as its candidate for the Sept. 6 vote to replace Pervez Musharraf.