Hundreds of thousands of mourners gathered for the funeral of Benazir Bhutto today in front of her family mausoleum.

Islamist websites are reporting that al-Qaida has claimed responsibility for the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the FBI said today, as rioting spread across Pakistan and hopes for democracy hung by a thread.

THOUGH Europeans are lucky enough to be able to take democracy and all the great benefits that process confers almost for granted, every now and then some terrible event reminds us that it is a privilege to live in a society that regularly and peacefully elects and dismisses its leaders and, by and large, controls its affairs without resorting to violence.

Thousands supporting former prime minister Benazir Bhutto gathered in Pakistan’s biggest city today to welcome her home from eight years of exile to centre stage of the country’s volatile politics.