February 22, 2008	Friday	Safar 14, 1429

QUETTA, Feb 21: Senator Malik Sarwar Khan Kakar of the PML-Q died in a Karachi hospital on Thursday at the age of 67. He will be laid to rest in the ancestral graveyard in Barshar village in Pishin on Friday.

Malik Sarwar was first elected Speaker of the Balochistan assembly after the 1985 party-less polls. He was elected to the provincial assembly in 1988, 1990, 1993 and 1996. He did not contest the 2002 elections owing to disqualification by the accountability court, but was elected senator in 2005 on a PML-Q ticket.

Malik Sarwar was elected MPA from Pishin in the Feb 18 polls but was defeated on the NA-261-Pishin-Ziarat seat by the MMA.

His body was being brought to Quetta on Thursday but the plane could not land because of dusty weather and poor visibility. After that the family decided to bring the body here by road.

Malik Sarwar is survived by two wives and a daughter.

Acting Governor Justice Amanullah Khan Yasinzai, caretaker Chief Minister Sardar Saleh Muhammad Bhootani, provincial chief of PML-Q Jam Muhammad Yousuf, other political leaders and tribal elders have offered condolences to the Kakar family.