Masses mourn Pakistan's slain Prime Minister Bhutto, one year on

A sea of sobbing mourners, some wailing and beating their chests in a wrenching outpouring of emotion, flooded through security checkpoints into the graveyard in rural southern Garhi Khuda Bakhsh for the commemoration.

Thick fog had stranded tens of thousands on the roads leading into the area early in the day, but the weather improved later on, allowing the masses to pay their respects to Bhutto, the first woman to lead a Muslim nation.

Bhutto, 54, was assassinated on December 27, 2007 in a gun and suicide attack at a campaign rally in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, just two months after returning to Pakistan from exile to vie for a third term in power.

Her shocking death threw the world’s only nuclear-armed Islamic nation into chaos, sparking violence and leading to months of political turmoil that ended in September when her widower, Asif Ali Zardari, claimed the presidency.

"In the tradition of a true Bhutto, she faced certain death rather than abandon her principles or the people," Zardari said in a message to the nation to mark the anniversary.

"The tyrants and the killers have killed her but they shall never be able to kill her ideas, which drove and inspired a generation to lofty aims," he said, adding that democracy was the only way to fight militancy.

Zardari was due to lead mourners at the mausoleum, but instead remained at the family home with their three children in Naudero, five kilometers (three miles) away, for security reasons, a senior security official told AFP.

Ministers and lawmakers who gathered at the home with the family observed a moment of silence at 5:20 pm -- about the time Bhutto was attacked.

Zardari, wearing a black shalwar kameez and a traditional white Sindhi cap, said: "Today democracy is complete. Today we can say we have written a new chapter in the journey that BB started."

The masses travelled by train, bus, truck, car, bicycle and even on foot to mourn the charismatic, Oxford-educated Bhutto.

Some slept Friday night in the open in near-freezing temperatures.

Tariq Waseem, a 25-year-old student from southwestern Baluchistan province, walked about 400 kilometers (250 miles) over 10 days with about a dozen friends to be at Saturday’s event. But unlike his friends, he walked barefoot.

"These are not painful," he told AFP, pointing with pride at blisters covering his soles. "These are a gift from my martyred leader."

A senior security official said hundreds of thousands of people visited the massive mausoleum in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh on Saturday, under the watchful eye of about 7,000 police and paramilitary rangers.

Both Zardari and the United Nations said they hoped a U.N. investigation would soon be launched into Bhutto’s killing. Pakistani and US officials have pinned the blame on Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud, but he denies any involvement.

One year on, Pakistan’s reverence for Bhutto continues unabated -- all television networks ran wall-to-wall Bhutto coverage on Saturday and the government has issued a 10-rupee coin and stamps bearing her portrait.

Hundreds of vendors did a brisk business selling Bhutto memorabilia -- posters, photographs and recordings of her speeches -- ahead of the ceremony.

The government declared Saturday a national holiday in Bhutto’s honor and memorial events were held nationwide.

Mohammed Amin, a laborer from Pakistani Kashmir, said he had come to Bhutto’s grave without fear, despite threats of violence.

"My leader died in an act of terror and so if I am killed in a similar act, it will be an honor for me to join my leader," he told AFP.