ISLAMABAD - PAKISTAN'S presidential hopefuls began a final push for support on Friday on the eve of an election that slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto's widower is expected to win.

Mr Asif Ali Zardari is the frontrunner in a three-way race to take power in a country riven by Islamic militancy and economic turmoil.

Security will be raised on election day, officials have said, and Mr Zardari has already moved house due to fears of attempts being made on his life, just nine months after Bhutto was killed at a campaign rally.

Tensions rose further after a failed assassination attempt on Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, whose car was hit by sniper fire on Wednesday as it drove to meet him at an airport.

Mr Zardari will face a multitude of problems if he wins a secret ballot among lawmakers and takes charge of a nuclear-armed state where bombings and suicide attacks have killed nearly 1,200 people in the past year.

Pakistan's economy is backsliding with inflation rampant and a volatile political situation contributing to a 40 per cent fall on the stock market since January, in a country already reliant on foreign aid.

The unrest that has struck the nation has been attributed to militants angry at former president Pervez Musharraf's support for the United States and its 'war on terror'.

Mr Musharraf's resignation triggered Saturday's election but his military policy is likely to continue with Mr Zardari.

The 53-year-old presidential hopeful has said that Pakistan will continue to back the US in its efforts to defeat terrorism if he is elected.

'I will work to defeat the domestic Taliban insurgency and to ensure that Pakistani territory is not used to launch terrorist attacks on our neighbours or on Nato forces in Afghanistan,' he said in a Washington Post article.

'We stand with the United States, Britain, Spain and others who have been attacked.'

Islamabad is heavily dependent on the billions of dollars that have headed here since Mr Musharraf backed the US after the September 11 attacks in 2001, and in its subsequent invasion of Afghanistan.

As co-chairman of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), Mr Zardari already heads a fragile coalition government which, although still in office, recently lost the backing of two-time former premier Nawaz Sharif's party.

A PPP aide said that Mr Zardari would on Friday meet parliamentarians and his own party officials to finalise strategy for election day.

'Inshallah (God willing) he will win and secure 500 of the 700 votes of the electoral college,' the aide said, referring to the Senate, National Assembly and four provincial assemblies that will choose Pakistan's president.

Mr Zardari is being challenged by retired chief justice Saeed-uz-Zaman Siddiqui, who is backed by former premier Sharif, and Mushahid Hussain, a close aide of Mr Musharraf.

Mr Sharif's spokesman alleged Friday that Mr Zardari was indulging in unfair tactics ahead of the vote.

'There is a general impression that the PPP is using state resources in the campaign for presidential elections,' said PML-N spokesman Siddiqul Farooq.

'We are all for fair play and will not indulge in foul play, nor do we like others to adopt any undemocratic tactics.'

Having defeated Mr Musharraf's political allies in February polls, Mr Zardari hand-picked Mr Gilani as prime minister.

If he wins on Saturday, the role of president would allow him to go further and dismiss governments and appoint leaders of the military, which has ruled Pakistan for half its existence.

Voting will start at 10 am (0400 GMT) and closes at 3 pm. A result is expected later on Saturday evening. -- AFP