Former minister shot dead in Pakistan

Syed Qamar Abbas, 52, and his nephew were killed by unidentified gunmen in a passing car in Peshawar late Sunday, senior police official Iftikhar Ahmad told reporters.

The pair were returning from a wedding reception on a motorcycle, Ahmad said.

Abbas had served as a provincial minister in Benazir Bhutto's governments from 1988-1990 and 1993-1996.

Police ruled out that the killings were linked to sectarian violence or the recent wave of terrorist attacks in the province.

"It is not a case of sectarian killing or terrorism," Ahmad said, adding that Abbas had made enemies in his career.

Hundreds of Abbas' supporters surrounded the local police station and blocked the main road, chanting slogans against the government to protest the killing, witnesses said.