Bhutto Visits Home Village Amid Strict Security

GARHI KHUDA BAKSH, Pakistan — A former Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto, visited her ancestral village yesterday and paid homage at her father’s tomb, declaring that a recent assassination attempt would not halt her drive to restore Pakistani democracy.Throngs of supporters ran toward Ms. Bhutto’s convoy, kicking up clouds of dust, as she arrived at the marble-domed mausoleum in Garhi Khuda Baksh after a 60-mile road trip from the southern city of Sukkur, where she flew from Karachi. It was her first trip outside Pakistan’s biggest city since the attempt on her life killed 143 people this month.“This has strengthened me to do what I can to save Pakistan by saving democracy,” she said on the airplane, telling reporters later that: “The agenda of the terrorists is stop democratic parties from flourishing so they can continue to grow.”Ms. Bhutto returned to Pakistan after an eight-year exile to contest parliamentary elections slated for January, hoping she can become prime minister for a third time.She said that she would travel on to the cities of Lahore and Islamabad, and also wanted to go to Pakistan-controlled parts of Kashmir and remote areas along the Afghan border where the Taliban and Al Qaeda are tightening their grip.A senior police official in the mountainous Swat district of northwest Pakistan said militants battling security forces there had killed 11 men they kidnapped from a minibus in apparent retaliation for a government assault on the stronghold of a radical cleric.Militants seized the men, who included at least four security officers, on the outskirts of the district Friday after the attack on cleric Maulana Fazlullah’s stronghold of Imam Dheri village, where security forces and militants traded fire using rocket-propelled grenades, mortars, and other weapons.The police official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press, said the 11 kidnapped men included three paramilitary soldiers, one policeman, and seven civilians — although other police officials said earlier that there were eight security personnel and three civilians.A witness said he saw six of the abducted men’s bodies with notes attached accusing them of spying for America.The fighting, which claimed at least three lives, subsided yesterday.About 2,500 paramilitary troops were deployed to Swat — one of Pakistan’s main tourist draws because of its mountains and rivers — after Mr. Fazlullah rallied his supporters to wage holy war against government forces.Rising militancy in northwestern Pakistan has shaken the authority of President Musharraf, a key ally in the American war on terror. The latest violence marks an escalation of the conflict between his government and pro-Taliban forces.In southern Pakistan, Ms. Bhutto conducted her visit to her ancestral region amid tight security. She traveled in a white SUV, flanked by paramilitary troops in white pickup trucks with machine guns mounted on top. Other security guards clung to the sides of the SUV.Ms. Bhutto waved from the vehicle’s sunroof with black metal sheets on either side of her. When she stepped down from the vehicle, hundreds of armed private security guards surrounded the mausoleum and formed a tight circle around the opposition leader, pushing their way through a chaotic fray of supporters and journalists.Wearing her trademark white headscarf, she stepped directly inside the mausoleum to pay her respects to her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistan’s first popularly elected leader who was overthrown by the military and hanged in 1979. During her 45-minute visit, she said prayers and sprinkled flower petals on his tomb and that of other ancestors there.She later went to a balcony and waved to about 2,000 supporters carrying the red, green, and black flags of her Pakistan People’s Party.Surrounded by guards, she spoke briefly with journalists, saying: “There is danger of attacks on me still, but I am not scared because Allah is the ultimate savior of my life. … I have such a large number of loyal followers who are ready to risk their lives to protect me, so there is no need to be scared.”She then left for her nearby residence, as supporters chanted “Prime Minister Bhutto.”Ms. Bhutto returned to Pakistan on October 18 from an eight-year exile, after talks with General Musharraf that could see them team up to fight Islamic extremism. A massive rally to welcome her was shattered by the suicide bombing as she inched through Karachi.Security was much tighter yesterday, but crowds of supporters were still able to greet Ms. Bhutto as she landed at Sukkur airport, and gathered around her vehicle before it sped away.Ahead of Ms. Bhutto’s visit to Garhi Khuda Baksh, party supporters sang and danced. Banners depicting Ms. Bhutto and her late father covered walls and hung from lamp posts.Police chief Nisar Ahmed Channa in nearby Larkana city said 400 police were deployed to the area.Since the bombing, Ms. Bhutto has spent most of her time behind reinforced doors in her Karachi residence but says she is not intimidated.Ms. Bhutto has accused elements in the government and security services of trying to kill her. She has demanded that international experts join the investigation — a call the government rejected. The bombing has raised concerns that fear of more attacks would restrict campaigning for January parliamentary elections.

Bhutto Visits Home Village Amid Strict Security

Bhutto Visits Home Village Amid Strict Security

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