Troops Patrol in Pakistan on Election Eve

Troops in armored personnel carriers today patrolled cities on the eve of national elections, and President Ghulam Ishaq Khan made a national appeal for peace during the balloting.

In Rawalpindi, a bomb hidden under wooden carts exploded in a market, killing one person. Nobody immediately claimed responsibility for the explosion, and authorities refused to speculate whether it was related to Wednesday’s voting.

Khan went on national television to urge Pakistan’s voters to go to the polls Wednesday and to accept the results peacefully. The race is expected to be close between left-leaning populist leader Benazir Bhutto and a nine-party conservative alliance.

Khan said heavy military and police security would be used to prevent anyone from creating “an atmosphere of fear or danger.” The government has said it is deploying hundreds of thousands of troops.