World leaders felicitate Nawaz Sharif

Leaders of many countries Sunday felicitated Nawaz Sharif on his party's victory in the general elections in Pakistan.

Sharif was Sunday poised to return to power after a 14-year hiatus, as results of the elections started trickling in.

Those who telephoned Sharif included King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia�' Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan�' United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed-al Nahyan, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Radio Pakistan reported.

The leaders expressed good wishes to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief as well as to the people of Pakistan.

Of 152 seats so far secured by different parties, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) bagged 86 seats, 21 went to Imran Khan's PTI, and 15 to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of President Asif Ali Zardari.

Among others, nine went to independent candidates, eight to MQM, four to JuI-F, two to Jamat-e-Islami, two to Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party and five to others, reported Xinhua.

The National Assembly has a total of 342 seats. Elections were held to 268 seats. Sixty seats are reserved for women and 10 for non-Muslims. Elections in four constituencies were countermanded following the death of a candidate in each.