Bhutto laid to rest next to her father's grave

Benazir Bhutto was laid to rest next to her father's grave in her ancestral village of Larkana on Friday, a day after she was assassinated in Rawalpindi.

Bhutto's husband Asif Ali Zardari, son Bilawal and two daughters -- Bhaktawar and Asifa -- were present when her body was lowered in a grave at the family's white-domed mausoleum after funeral prayers. The body was earlier placed in a plain wooden coffin draped in the black, green and red flag of her Pakistan People's Party.

Many of Bhutto's supporters wailed and beat their chest and heads as they gathered at a ground near the ornate mausoleum in Garhi Khuda Baksh village.

People poured into the area from all over Larkana district and other parts of Pakistan on foot and in trucks and tractors, kicking up huge clouds of dust.

A deafening roar greeted her coffin, as it was taken towards the Bhutto mausoleum in a white vehicle.

It took more than two hours for the funeral cortege to cover the five km from her family home in Naudero to the private mausoleum in Ghari Khuda Baksh, deep in rural southern Pakistan.

The two-time former premier was buried next to her father, Zulfiqar Ai Bhutto, also a prime minister and who was executed by the military in 1979 after being ousted from power.

Also in the family tomb, are the bodies of two brothers -- Murtaza and Shah Nawaz -- who also met with violent ends.

The body was brought from Rawalpindi in a plane to Sukkur in southern Sindh province and then flown by helicopter to Naudero.

Bhutto, 54, was gunned down by a suicide bomber after an election rally in Rawalpindi on Thursday.

The funeral passed off peacefully as authorities struggled to contain the mounting anger that erupted into violence across the country that has so far claimed at least 19 lives.

Officials ordered paramilitary forces in Karachi, a Bhutto stronghold, to shoot rioters on sight and sent troops into several cities in the south.

The ambulance carrying the body of the Muslim world's first woman premier was trailed by scores of people, who jostled to get a last glimpse of their beloved leader.

Several people climbed trees and poles along the roadside and others took up position atop a mausoleum.

The mourners were hushed during the funeral prayers and the subsequent funeral, which passed off peacefully. The funeral was attended by a large number of PPP leaders, including Bhutto's deputy Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Babar Awan, Raza Rabbani and Jahangir Badar.

Hundreds of people rushed into the three-domed mausoleum to pour handfuls of earth over Bhutto's final resting place as her grief-stricken husband and son looked on. PPP leaders appeared unprepared to control the large crowd that entered the structure.

Ghaibana namaz-e-janaza or funeral prayers in absentia were offered for Bhutto in many cities and towns across Pakistan. In Hyderabad, a large number of PPP leaders, workers and people attended the namaz-e-janaza held after the Friday prayers.

Bhutto had visited the mausoleum to pray at her father's grave shortly after returning to the country for a long spell in self-exile in October.

All around Naudero and Garhi Khuda Buksh were signs of the violent protests by PPP workers. Burnt cars were seen on the streets of Naudero and a train, its locomotive still smouldering, lay stationary on the tracks a short distance from the mausoleum in Garhi Khuda Buksh.

The protestors also set fire to several buildings, including the local excise and taxation offices during violence on Friday morning.

Bhutto's sister Sanam, who flew in from London to join the funeral, told reporters that the PPP had strong ties with the public and the Bhutto family had made sacrifices for them.

"Benazir Bhutto also sacrificed her life and became a martyr," she said.

Muslim clerics strongly condemned suicide attacks in the name of jehad in their sermons.

They said such attacks were against the teachings of Islam and appealed to people to exercise restraint and maintain peace.

In Karachi, Archbishop Evarist Pinto, the head of the Roman Catholic church, announced a three-day mourning for Bhutto during which special masses and prayer services will be held in churches in Karachi.