Bhutto´s body arrives in hometown for burial

Source: Xinhua | 12-28-2007 11:48

BEIJING, Dec. 28(Xinhuanet) -- The body of assassinated Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto arrived in southern Sindh province before dawn Friday for burial in the family's graveyard.

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto waves to her supporters at Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Dec. 27, 2007. Bhutto died Thursday as Party security adviser says she was shot in the neck and chest as she got into her vehicle, then gunman blew himself up. At least 20 others were also killed in a blast that took place as Bhutto left the rally. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)

A Pakistan Air Force plane landed in southern city of Sukkur from where the body and members of her family were flown by helicopter to Naudero, Bhutto's spokesman Farhatullah Babar told media.

Her husband Asif Zardari, their three children and some senior leaders of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) travelled on the plane.

Bhutto will be buried in the ancestral graveyard in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh near the grave of her father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Babar said.

Her family members and close relatives will have a last glimpse of the body before funeral prayers scheduled for noon (0830 GMT), he said.

Security was tight in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh as thousands of her party members and supporters were expected to attend the burial ceremony.

Bhutto was assassinated Thursday in a gun and bomb attack that killed around 20 people as she left a party rally in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, near the capital Islamabad.

Bhutto, a two-time former prime minister, was spearheading the PPP's campaign for Jan. 8 general elections.

(Agencies)

Editor:Zhang Pengfei