The motion, proposed by two hard-line Protestant parties, is expected to fail, because it lacks any Catholic support.

Both men are members of Jamaat-e-Islami, a hard-line religious party.

Anyone who openly supports opponents of the hard-line nationalist parties is in danger of his life.

A coalition of six hard-line religious parties kicked off its campaign for October parliamentary elections under tight restrictions imposed by the military government.

The Social Democrats found themselves without influence inside a hard-line Stalinist party.

Pakistani authorities had banned women from taking part in marathons last month after violent protests by hard-line Islamic parties.

Meanwhile, an alliance of hard-line Islamist parties won record seats in the 2002 elections.

Gere, who quickly fled the country, has said the controversy was "manufactured by a small hard-line political party."

He was also a politician of the right who formed a hard-line party, Tzomet, when he left the army.

He referred to Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the political head of the most hard-line fundamentalist party.