Bhutto travels to ancestral village

GARHI KHUDA BAKSH, PAKISTAN —  Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto visited her ancestral village and sprinkled flower petals on her father’s tomb, declaring that a recent assassination attempt would not halt her drive to restore Pakistani democracy.

Throngs of supporters ran toward Bhutto’s convoy, kicking up clouds of dust, as she arrived Saturday at the marble-domed mausoleum in Garhi Khuda Baksh after a 60-mile road trip from the southern city of Sukkur, where she flew from Karachi.

It was her first trip outside Pakistan’s biggest city since the attempt on her life Oct. 19 killed about 140 people at a massive rally celebrating her return from eight years of self-imposed exile. She has since been largely confined to her residence in Karachi, but is eager to start her campaign for parliamentary elections slated for January.

“This has strengthened me to do what I can to save Pakistan by saving democracy,” she said on the airplane. Later she told reporters, “The agenda of the terrorists is [to] stop democratic parties from flourishing so they can continue to grow.”

She vowed to fight Islamic extremism -- a call that came as pro-Taliban militants in northwestern Pakistan executed 13 captives in response to an assault by security forces on the stronghold of a militant cleric. Officials said the men -- six security officers and seven civilians -- were captured at a roadblock after an attack on cleric Maulana Fazlullah’s stronghold of Imam Dheri village, where security forces and militants traded fire.

Badshah Gul Wazir, the top security official of the North-West Frontier Province, said by telephone from Peshawar, the provincial capital, that the civilians were accused of being spies.

Bhutto said Pakistan has a choice between “creeping Talibanization” or standing up to save itself.

Wearing her trademark white head scarf, Bhutto smiled and waved to supporters from her SUV’s sunroof, with black metal sheets shielding her on the left and right, and a female aide standing in front of her. Her convoy was flanked by paramilitary troops in white pickup trucks with machine guns mounted on top. Other guards clung to the sides of the SUV.

Hundreds of armed private security guards surrounded the mausoleum and formed a tight circle around the opposition leader as she got out of her vehicle, pushing their way through a crowd of supporters and journalists. In the mausoleum she paid respects to her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistan’s first popularly elected leader, who was overthrown by the military and hanged in 1979.

Benazir Bhutto, whose two governments between 1988 and 1996 toppled amid allegations of mismanagement and corruption, came to Pakistan after talks with President Pervez Musharraf yielded an amnesty on pending graft cases against her.