NEW YORK TIMES: KARACHI, Pakistan, Oct. 18 — Benazir Bhutto, the Pakistani opposition leader and former prime minister, arrived in Pakistan this afternoon, ending her eight-year exile in a return that is expected to reconfigure the country’s already unsettled political landscape.
She stepped down onto the tarmac at Karachi airport at around 2 p.m. local time after a flight from Dubai, wearing a green shalwar kameez — a traditional Muslim outfit — and white headscarf, the colors of the Pakistani flag.
“The most important step — to be back on Pakistani soil,” Ms. Bhutto said, after praying before an upheld Koran. She was clearly tearful.
Later, she began what was expected to be a long procession through the heavy throng of crowds to the tomb of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, in Karachi. She left the airport standing on the upper deck of a sided truck, surrounded by party members and waving at the people in the streets. Students wearing Pakistan Peoples’ Party shirts held hands and formed five concentric rings around the truck to keep back the crush. As the procession inched forward, people stood with flags and banners on the tops of trucks and sat in nearby trees. Bhutto Returns to Pakistan After 8-Year Exile (more) By Carlotta Gall and Salman Masood
Mark Alexander
