By Muhammad Najeeb, IANS
Islamabad : Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto Saturday visited her hometown Larkana in southern Pakistan amid tight security and offered prayers at her father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s tomb, nine days after surviving a suicide attack in Karachi.
Bhutto spent about 40 minutes at the graveyard, prayed at the tombs of her father, brothers Murtaza and Shahnawaz and other relatives. She also recited verses from the Quran for 25 minutes and then left for her ancestral home, about 20 km from the graveyard.
The former premier had earlier flown into Sukkur, a town about 100 km from Larkana, but only a few party leaders were allowed to receive their leader at the airport.
Though her visit was announced Thursday, her schedule and route were not disclosed in the wake of the blasts that killed 140 people during her homecoming rally Oct 18.
Thousands of people had gathered along the road from Sukkur to Larkana, waving red, black and green flags of Bhutto’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), to welcome her. But the leader’s route was changed at the last minute and she was taken straight to her father’s tomb.
It was Bhutto’s first trip to the ancestral home since 1999 when she fled the country to avoid persecution over corruption charges.
“It’s been a long time since I have 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,” Bhutto told journalists.
“This has strengthened me to do what I can to save Pakistan by saving democracy,” she added.
Two suicide bombs ripped through a procession of tens of thousands of people in Karachi Oct 18 that was held to welcome the two-time ex-premier after her eight years in exile.
The attack has been blamed on Islamic militants, who are believed to be angry over her recently brokered power-sharing deal with President General Pervez Musharraf.