A leading politician has been killed in a suicide blast in the Swat valley of north-west Pakistan, police say.

The bomber targeted a guest house owned by North West Frontier Province (NWFP) assembly member Shamsher Ali Khan.

At least eight others, among them Mr Khan's brother, were seriously injured in the attack near Mingora.

The Taliban are blamed for a spate of recent attacks in Pakistan. Violence in Swat has subsided since an army assault against the militants this year.

Mr Khan was a leader of NWFP's ruling party, the ANP.

He was exchanging Eid greetings with people at his residence in Dherai village when the bomber struck, NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain told the BBC.