ISLAMABAD, 1 September 2006 — The body of a Pakistani rebel leader whose killing by the military triggered violent protests has been dug out from a collapsed cave and his funeral will take place today, a senior official said late yesterday.

The body of Nawab Akbar Bugti, a respected tribal chieftain from energy-rich Balochistan province, was badly decomposed after his death at the weekend, military spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan said.

“The body is in an advanced stage of decay as it had been badly crushed under a big boulder,” he said.

Bugti’s killing dominated proceedings of both the houses of the Parliament.

Army engineers clearing debris at the collapsed cave sighted the body of ethnic Baloch nationalist Nawab Akbar Bugti on Wednesday.

The octogenarian rebel Baloch leader, who had been involved in a long-running confrontation with the central government, was killed when the cave crashed in as security forces besieging it tried to arrest him on Saturday.

The collapse was caused by an unexplained explosion, according to Sultan, but nationalist Baloch parties and the opposition have alleged it was a targeted killing by the military. The army has denied the claim.

Bugti’s killing in his native Balochistan province led to four days of violent protests including 10 deaths caused by various clashes and a bomb blast. But the unrest appeared to be subsiding yesterday.

In the last incident late Wednesday gunmen shot dead an ethnic Baloch and wounded two others when they tried to cross a key road blocked by an angry mob, police said yesterday.

“The protesters refused to lift the blockade in southern Khuzdar district but the occupants of a car insisted, saying that they must cross because of some emergency,” senior police officer Mohammad Aslam told AFP.

When the driver of the vehicle took a diversion, they opened fire, killing a man and injuring two others, he said.

The protesters lifted the siege late Wednesday and traffic on the highway leading to Afghanistan has now been restored, he said. “We hope the situation will further improve in the next few days,” provincial police chief Chaudhry Yaqub said.

Residents in the provincial capital Quetta said shops, commercial centers and gas stations had reopened and that inter-city buses were back on the roads. However, security remained tight following a call by mainstream secular and Islamic parties for a countrywide strike today, police said.

Opposition parties have demanded an inquiry into Bugti’s death and the handing over of his body to his family.

Bugti, who led a heavily armed private militia, had made demands for provincial autonomy and a greater share of profits from the region’s resources.

Bugti’s killing also dominated the proceedings in the Parliament Wednesday. In the Senate, leader of the opposition from Pakistan People’s Party Mian Raza Rabbani asked the chair for ‘Dua-e-Fateha for Bugti. Majority of the senators condemned the killing of Bugti.

In the National Assembly many members from the combined opposition said, “We are now united on one point agenda that is who should rule Pakistan. The elected Parliament or few generals.”

These members said Bugti’s killing by troops pose a serious threat to the Federation of Pakistan.

In Balochistan 700 people were rounded up from different cities by police.

— With input from agencies