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Exiled Bhutto Set To Return To Pakistan

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By LAURA KING, Los Angeles Times

Published: October 18, 2007

KARACHI, Pakistan - By foot, bus and bicycle, thousands of fervent followers of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto converged Wednesday, preparing to welcome her home today from eight years of exile.

Bhutto's expected return to this sprawling, chaotic port city that was her birthplace adds a complex new dimension to the months-long struggle of Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, to retain power.

Bhutto and Musharraf have reached an agreement on some elements of a power-sharing alliance, but deep mistrust persists on both sides.

As preparations for Bhutto's homecoming intensified, a panel of Supreme Court judges in the capital began hearing a legal challenge filed by lawmakers this month to Musharraf's election to a new term.

If the Oct. 6 vote is declared invalid, it is widely feared that the Pakistani leader will respond by declaring martial law.

Musharraf had urged Bhutto to stay away until the court delivers a verdict, which could take days or weeks. She rejected a delay, voicing determination to return and lead her party in parliamentary elections that are to take place by early next year.

'My return heralds for the people of Pakistan the turn in the wheel from dictatorship to democracy, from exploitation to empowerment, from violence to peace,' she told reporters in Dubai, where she has maintained a home in exile.

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