Thousands of people gathered Monday to mourn ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto on the third anniversary of her death and demand that her killers be brought to justice. Loyalists descended on her grave in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh from across the country, beating their chests and chanting "Bhutto was alive yesterday and Bhutto is alive today".
President Asif Ali Zardari pledged allegiance to his wife's policies and promised to stamp out militant groups, which have been blamed for killing more than 4,000 people across country since July 2007. "We'll be fighting against extremism as guided by our martyred leader. We'll make Pakistan a peaceful and prosperous country," he was quoted as saying in an anniversary statement.
Zardari, their two daughters and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, from Butto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP), visited her grave privately on Sunday. Crowds of men, women and children cried, recited the Holy Quran and demanded that the government arrest Benazir Bhutto's killers, said an AFP photographer.
Liaquat Mughal, 55, said he had come by bicycle from Sambaryal, close to the Indian border, and wanted to see Benazir Bhutto's killers brought to justice. "I don't want anything else. I just want to see the killers of my leader hanging," said Mughal.
Thousands of police and paramilitary troops enforced security at the grave site, hung with Benazir Bhutto's pictures and where speakers broadcast her speeches. "We estimate more than a 100,000 people have visited the tomb since yesterday," said police official Ashraf Leghari.
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