By IRNA
Islamabad : Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto on Sunday criticized the government for failure to fight terrorism.
Speaking to 25,000 supporters in her hometown of Larkana, she said the President Pervez Musharraf’s government is responsible for the rise of terrorism in the Muslim country during its reign.
“Terrorists gained power, and the government’s legitimacy weakened,” Bhutto said.
Taliban and al-Qaeda have intensified suicide attacks in recent months.
In the latest attack a suicide bomber, apparently targeting former interior minister Aftab Khan Sherpao, blew himself up Friday in a village mosque killing 56 people.
Sherpao, who is also running for Parliament in the January 8 elections, said the latest bombing would not deter him from campaigning.
Bhutto escaped two suicide attacks in October, when she returned to her country after eight years in exile.
Another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, held a rally Sunday in Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, weeks after returning from Saudi Arabia where he had been exiled after Musharraf ousted Sharif’s government in a 1999 coup.