Crowds greet Bhutto on journey to ancestral home

Throngs of supporters greeted Benazir Bhutto as she landed in Sukkur, Pakistan, today on the way to her ancestral home.

It is her first trip outside Pakistan’s biggest city since an assassination attempt against her killed 143 people nine days ago.

Bhutto’s flight from Karachi landed at the heavily guarded airport where hundreds of supporters waited outside, waving the red, green and black flags of her Pakistan People’s Party. As she got off the plane, she was greeted by a dozen local party leaders who gave her a traditional black shawl and a copy of the Quran.

The two-time premier then set off on the 100km (60-mile) journey by road to her family home near the southern city of Larkana. Crowds of supporters ran after the vehicle.

She was driven away in a white SUV, and stood out of the vehicle’s sunroof with black metal sheets on either side of her, waving to supporters. Her convoy was flanked by paramilitary troops in white pick-ups with machine guns mounted on top.

Pakistan’s Dawn television news said the convoy was travelling at a high speed.

At her ancestral village, Bhutto is expected to pay her respects at the tomb of her father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto – Pakistan’s first popularly elected leader, who was hanged three decades ago.

“It’s a long time since I’ve been here, and I thank God for giving me the opportunity to put my feet on my homeland once again, to see the love of my people. This has strengthened me to do what I can to save Pakistan by saving democracy,” she told reporters on the plane.

Bhutto returned to Pakistan on October 18 from an eight-year exile, after talks with President General Pervez 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.

Before Bhutto’s visit today, hundreds of armed private security guards surrounded the white-domed marble mausoleum at the village of Garhi Khuda Baksh. Party supporters sang and danced nearby. Guards cordoned off the area around the tomb, forbidding entry even to police.

Police chief Nisar Ahmed Channa in nearby Larkana said 400 police were deployed to the area in consultation with a bomb disposal squad.

Since the bombing, Bhutto has spent most of her time behind reinforced doors in her Karachi residence. But yesterday she said she refused to be intimidated.

She said she would travel on to the cities of Lahore and Islamabad, and also wanted to go to the Pakistan-controlled parts of Kashmir and remote areas along the Afghan border, where the Taliban and al-Qaida are tightening their grip.

Details of today’s trip were shrouded in mystery, and it was not clear how many people might turn out to meet her in Garhi Khuda Baksh, where flags depicting Bhutto and her late father covered walls and hung from lamp posts.

“People seem to be scared after the suicide attacks, so I feel they will stay away from the rallies,” said farm shop worker Fida Hussain Sammu in Larkana.

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 the campaign for January parliamentary elections.