Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir and Ambassador to the European Union Jalil Abbas Jilani are among possible contenders to replace Husain
Haqqani, who resigned yesterday as the country's envoy to the US because of the "Memogate" controversy. 

Even before Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani asked Haqqani to resign yesterday, the names of several contenders for the crucial post of Ambassador to the US had been doing the rounds.

Bashir first emerged as a possible contender for the post last year after Haqqani was linked by the army to several pro-democracy provisions in the Kerry-Lugar-Berman Act that provides USD 1.5 billion dollars every year as aid for
Pakistan. 

The name of Jilani, who is related to Prime Minister Gilani, came to the fore after he met the premier at his private residence in Lahore on November 19.