IHT : Thousands of supporters await Bhutto's return from 8-year exile

Thousands of supporters await Bhutto's return from 8-year exile

The Associated Press | Wednesday, October 17, 2007

KARACHI, Pakistan: Thousands of supporters of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto gathered in Pakistan's biggest city Thursday to welcome her home from eight years of exile to the center stage of the country's volatile politics.

Authorities were mounting a massive security operation to protect Bhutto, a two-time premier, from possible attack by Islamic militants on her planned arrival in Karachi on Thursday afternoon.

By early morning, supporters were pouring from hundreds of buses festooned with the red, green and black flags of her Pakistan People's Party along the highway from the airport into the city.

Most had come from the surrounding province of Sindh, the heartland of the Bhutto's political dynasty, but some had also traveled from further north.

On the asphalt, crowds of men performed traditional dance routines to music blaring from loudspeakers.

"I've come to welcome back Benazir. She's a blessing for the poor people of Pakistan," said Habibullah, a 47-year-old fishmonger wearing an embroidered cap who had traveled 300 kilometers (190 miles) overnight from the city of Sanghar.

Asked about warnings that suicide bombers could target Bhutto, Habibullah said, "Our sister is coming and we're not afraid of anything."

Bhutto has paved her route back in negotiations with President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup. He is promising to give up his command of Pakistan's powerful army if he secures a new term as president.

The monthslong talks yielded an amnesty covering the corruption cases that made Bhutto leave Pakistan in the first place, and could see the archrivals eventually team up in a U.S.-friendly alliance to fight al-Qaida and the Taliban.

Bhutto, 54, is vowing to bring democracy and fight religious extremism. But there is public skepticism she can turn the bold rhetoric into reality.

"My return heralds for the people of Pakistan the turn of the wheel from dictatorship to democracy, from exploitation to empowerment, from violence to peace," she said Wednesday at a news conference in Dubai.

She left her villa in an upscale neighborhood of Dubai on Thursday morning with her husband and two daughters, bound for the airport.

A small group of wellwishers parked a pickup truck carrying six sheep outside the gate and briefly mobbed her black limousine before it pulled into traffic.

She is due to touch down in Karachi around 1 p.m. (0800 GMT).

Some 2,500 paramilitary troops have been deployed around the airport and 10,000 more are on standby, said Capt. Fazal Mahmood, spokesman for the Sindh Rangers. Officials say another 3,500 police, including seven bomb-clearing squads, and 5,000 party volunteers are guarding the route.

Bhutto, whose two elected governments between 1988 and 1996 were toppled amid allegations of corruption and mismanagement, is vying for a third term if her party can win parliamentary elections in January.

She described the current situation in Pakistan, with rising militancy and enduring poverty, as "very grave."

"The internal situation is very dangerous and there is tension and danger on our frontiers," she said at the news conference, flanked by her two daughters and her husband.

However, on Karachi's backstreets, many citizens are dubious of promises of change.

"Lets see what she can do for us," said Mohammed Asif, a 27-year old student in the dirt-poor district of Lyari, a PPP stronghold. "She's been prime minister twice but she's done nothing for Lyari."

Despite the skepticism, the PPP is hoping for a grand welcome that promises to paralyze this already chaotic city of 15 million people.

The party is predicting more than 1 million supporters from across Pakistan will greet her. Other observers forecast more than 100,000 — still a far greater turn out than rival politicians in Pakistan could hope to muster.

Schools were to remain closed Thursday, and police have blocked access roads to the airport as a security precaution. Dozens of gas stations along her route were shuttered.

The risk of political clashes in a city famed for them has been eased by the apparent willingness of the Mutahida Qaumi Movement, a pro-Musharraf party that dominates Karachi, to accord her a peaceful welcome.

But authorities are warning of the threat of suicide attacks and roadside bombings by Islamic militants.

The provincial government had appealed to Bhutto to abandon plans for a snail-paced 16-kilometer (10-mile) procession to the tomb of Pakistan's founding father, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, where she plans to make an address.

Bhutto, who shares Musharraf's support of the U.S.-led war on terrorism, was undeterred.

"I am not afraid of any threat. My father sacrificed his life for the people and country," she said, referring to former Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who was executed by Pakistan's last military ruler in 1979.

"I do not believe that any true Muslim will make an attack on me because Islam forbids attacks on women and Muslims know that if they attack a woman they will burn in hell," Bhutto said.

Musharraf has seen his popularity plunge since a failed attempt to oust the country's top judge in the spring. The rapprochement with Bhutto appears aimed at boosting his political base as he vies to extend his rule.

He easily won a vote by lawmakers Oct. 6 to give him a new five-year presidential term.

The Supreme Court, however, has ruled that Musharraf's victory can only become official once it rules on challenges to the legality of his re-election.

Associated Press writers Ashraf Khan and Afzal Nadeem in Karachi and Barbara Surk in Dubai contributed to this report.