Sharif says Musharraf must step down, going ahead with polls would destroy Pakistan

Ghari Khuda Bakhsh, December 28:

Pakistan’s assassinated former premier Benazir Bhutto was laid to rest in her family’s ancestral grave today to scenes of searing emotion from hundreds of thousands of mourners.

State television said Bhutto was buried at the mausoleum after a mullah led the massive crowd in funeral prayers.

A huge roar greeted her coffin, wrapped in the black, green and red flag of her Pakistan People’s Party, as it was borne towards the Bhutto mausoleum in a white vehicle.

It took more than two hours to crawl the five km from her family home in Naudero to the private mausoleum in Ghari Khuda Baksh, deep in rural southern Pakistan.

Many mourners wailed and beat their chests in an outpouring of grief as the casket passed the vast crowds hanging out of every building and packing every street corner.

As authorities struggled to keep a lid on the seething anger that erupted into violence across the country, the government for the first time pointed a finger at Al-Qaeda for her slaying.

Interior ministry spokesman Brigadier Javed Cheema said Bhutto had been on an Al-Qaeda hit-list and it was likely the Islamic extremist network played a role in yesterday’s suicide attack that killed her and around 20 others.

Bhutto was buried next to her father, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, also a prime minister and who was executed by the military in 1979 after being ousted from power. Bhutto’s husband and three children accompanied the coffin as it arrived by helicopter in nearby Naudero ahead of the ceremony.

“For now, the elections stand as they were announced. We’ll take the next step after consulting political parties,” interim PM Mohammedmian Soomro said.

Sharif warned that going ahead with the polls would “destroy the country,” and reiterated his demand that Musharraf step down. “This is the number-one demand of the nation today,” he told reporters.

Meanwhile, a report from Srinagar said a strike was observed in Kashmir today to protest against Bhutto’s assassination. Shops and businesses were shut in Srinagar, where the authorities reinforced security and sounded an alert after Bhutto’s killing yesterday.