The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Thatta

The widower of slain Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto hit the campaign trail for the first major party rally since the former prime minister's assassination in December. Thousands of people were gathering at Thatta, a rural town in Bhutto's home province of Sindh, amid tight security following 40 days of mourning since she was killed in Rawalpindi. Her successor Asif Ali Zardari vowed to complete her mission to establish democracy when mourning ended Thursday with large crowds at a ceremony around Bhutto's grave in the ancestral village of Khari Khuda Baksh. On Saturday, more than 2,000 police deployed around the public meeting venue at Thatta following repeated warnings by the government that terrorists could target main political leaders to derail the democratic process.