Homeward Bound, Bhutto Fears for Life

Former PM concerned about ‘threat within the government’
By Jonas Oransky,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 15, 2007 5:39 PM CDT
Homeward Bound, Bhutto Fears for Life
Pakistani artist Yaseen Ali, 26, gives finishing touches to a portrait of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto along a roadside in Larkana, about 430 kilometers (270 miles) southeast of Karachi, Pakistan, Saturday, Oct. 13, 2007. Under a scorching sun, Ali religiously repaints the fading contours of...   (Associated Press)

Benazir Bhutto returns to Pakistan Thursday for the first time in 19 years, and she worries her life is at risk. A Taliban commander has vowed to murder the ex-PM with suicide bombers, but her fear is military officers “who have fought the jihad,” she told the Guardian. She's been negotiating security with the government and is expecting 3,500 guards.

A top government minister said the assassination plot claims were “ridiculous,” that no officers were breaking bread with Al-Qaeda. Bhutto's father, another ex-PM, was hanged by the military, and two of her brothers have been murdered. A parade-like welcome is expected; when Bhutto last came to Pakistan, a million people turned out. (More Pakistan stories.)

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