Pakistan president arrives home from Dubai

Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari arrived home from Dubai early Friday, officials said, against a backdrop of mounting tension and challenges to his government's precarious rule. A presidential official said Zardari, who spent more than a week in a Dubai hospital for treatment last month, returned in the early hours of Friday after a brief visit to attend a wedding. "The President arrived at 5:00 am after attending a wedding in Dubai and he is in Islamabad now," Farhatullah Babar, Zardari's spokesman told AFP. The one-day trip came after a confrontation between Pakistan's civilian leaders and the military over a probe into the government's role in a scandal centred on a mysterious memo that sought US help in curbing the army's power.