Bhutto Returns Home to Rapturous Welcome

Pakistan's former prime minister Benazir Bhutto today started her political comeback as she landed at Karachi airport to a tumultuous welcome from thousands of supporters.

Amid intense security after assassination threats, Ms Bhutto returned after eight years of self-imposed exile in preparation for elections that could return her to a central role in Pakistan at a time when the country faces grave challenges.

Ms Bhutto, who has the backing of the west, still enjoys a big following, and huge crowds turned out to watch as she landed after a short flight from Dubai.

Hundreds of buses and other vehicles carrying billboards welcoming her back were parked bumper-to-bumper along the boulevard leading to the city center.

A huge red, green and black flag of her Pakistan People's party (PPP) hung from an apartment block overlooking the route.

Supporters, including representatives of Pakistan's minority Christian and Hindu communities and Baluch tribesmen with flowing white turbans, walked toward the airport, while groups of men performed traditional dances, beat drums and shook maracas along the way.

Officials had appealed to Ms Bhutto to abandon plans for a slow procession to the tomb of Pakistan's founding father, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, where she plans to address the crowds.

Azad Bhatti, a 35-year-old poultry farmer from the southern city of Hyderabad, said he had "blind faith" in Bhutto's leadership.

"When Benazir Bhutto is in power there is no bomb blast because she provides jobs and there is no frustration among the people," he told the Associated Press.

"Whatever she thinks is for the betterment of the people."

The charismatic opposition leader, who fled in 1999 under a cloud of corruption charges, is returning in the hope of becoming prime minister for a third time in general elections due by mid-January.

But she must first overcome deep skepticism about a controversial alliance with her old rival, President Pervez Musharraf.

Last night a boisterous mood gripped Karachi, a sprawling metropolis of 16 million people, as supporters flooded in from around the country.

Giant posters of Bhutto hung from street corners and young men on motorcycles zipped through traffic in the city center, yelling and waving Bhutto flags.

Party officials predict a crowd of a million people to greet Ms Bhutto from a commercial flight at 1pm (9am BST) today; at least 100,000 looked likely.

Police sealed off side roads with shipping containers, and bomb squads combed the streets after threats by a Taliban commander, Baitullah Masood, to dispatch suicide bombers to kill Ms Bhutto.

More than 3,500 police officers and 5,000 supporters will patrol the route. Schools in the city will be closed.

Ms Bhutto will move through the city on a bullet-proof platform on a truck equipped with anti-bomb jamming devices.

The procession will crawl towards the tomb of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, a 10-mile journey that officials said could take the entire day. In Dubai, Ms Bhutto predicted her return would trigger a transition from military to civilian rule.

"My return heralds for the people of Pakistan the turn of the wheel from dictatorship to democracy, from exploitation to empowerment, from violence to peace," she said.

Ms Bhutto, flanked by her husband and two daughters, warned that any bomber who tried to kill her would "burn in hell" under Islamic laws.

"I am very proud of what my mother is doing," said Bakhtawar, her eldest daughter.

The dramatic scenes are expected to inject colorful populism into Pakistan's sterile political scene.

But the homecoming is also tainted by long-standing fraud allegations and bitter family feuds.

Many supporters of Bhutto's PPP are deeply unhappy about talks with Gen Musharraf.

In return for her support, Gen Musharraf, whose popularity is falling, signed an amnesty against corruption charges that have dogged Ms Bhutto since she left power in 1996.

There are also allegations against the Oxford-educated politician in Spain and Switzerland, where prosecutors are investigating allegations of kickbacks involving tens of millions of dollars.

In 2003 a Swiss court convicted her of money-laundering and ordered her to pay $11m (£5m) to the Pakistani government.

The conviction was thrown out when she contested it, but the investigation continues. Ms Bhutto has denied any wrongdoing.

Ms Bhutto's return is most bitterly opposed by some of her relatives, the fallout from rivalries that have divided the Bhutto dynasty.

"I'm scared for what this means for this country. It's so repulsive," said Fatima Bhutto, a 25-year-old niece. "But her return doesn't upset me."

Fatima, a newspaper columnist, blames Ms Bhutto for the death of her father, Murtaza, who was gunned down by police in 1996.

Benazir, his sister and political rival, was prime minister at the time. Impassioned and articulate, Fatima is considered a possible future rival to Ms Bhutto.

But her party, a splinter of the PPP, has little support. Her Lebanese mother, Ghinwa, will contest the family seat at the next election.

Benazir Bhutto will hope to answer her critics today with a convincing display of public support.

She made history in 1988 when she became the world's first female Muslim leader.

Now, though, her political future has become intertwined with that of Gen Musharraf.

Yesterday the supreme court started hearing a legal challenge to his re-election on October 6.

Gen Musharraf's bitter rival, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, the chief justice he tried to fire last spring, has excused himself from the case.

Ms Bhutto also has pressing legal worries: in a few weeks the supreme court is due to start hearing a challenge to the new corruption amnesty. If the amnesty is overturned, she could face a fresh prosecution.

Speaking in Dubai, Ms Bhutto called for fair elections in which the people would resolve the country's differences.