Benazir Bhutto travels to hometown, addresses thousands of supporters

Описание: (23 Dec 2007) SHOTLIST
1. Wide of crowd clapping and chanting
2. Mid of crowd clapping and chanting
3. Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leader and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto waving to crowd
4. Bhutto waving and wide of crowd
5. Crowd clapping
6. SOUNDBITE: (Urdu) Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leader:
"Those running political madrassas do not teach Islam to children, rather they teach children how to use guns and kill women, elders and children."
7. Bhutto hugging PPP worker
8. Bhutto waving and clapping
9. Wide of crowd clapping and dancing
10. Bhutto cuts Christmas cake
STORYLINE:
Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto on Sunday accused President Pervez Musharraf's government of failing to crush militants in the Islamic nation, just days after a suicide bombing killed at least 50 people during a prayer service in a mosque.
Speaking to 25-thousand supporters in her hometown of Larkana in the southern Sindh province, the former prime minister said the ruling party government bore the blame for the rise of Islamic militancy in the country.
"Those running political madrassas do not teach Islam to children, rather they teach children how to use guns and kill women, elders and children," she said.
Bhutto's sharp criticism came as the campaign for next month's parliamentary elections heated up, with politicians addressing rallies around the country at the end of the three-day Eid al-Adha holiday.
Earlier this week, Bhutto praised Musharraf for keeping promises to quit his post as army chief and hold elections on time, but said the real test would be whether the January 8 elections were fair.
Musharraf said curbing militancy was the chief reason he imposed a state of emergency on November 3.
However, critics say he also used it to crack down on dissent and purge the judiciary in his favour.
Musharraf has promised that the elections will be free and transparent, and has said allegations of rigging were an attempt by the opposition to create an excuse in case they fare poorly at the ballot box.

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...