Preparation for Benazir Bhutto's return to Larkana

(16 Oct 2007)
1. Wide of Larkana city
2. Top shot of street with poster showing picture of Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf and banner with slogans welcoming former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's return
3. Various of large banner on building, showing pictures of Benazir Bhutto and her father Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, slogans for Benazir's return
4. Various of traffic on street
5. Various of Pakistan People's Party workers putting up posters to welcome Bhutto's return
6. SOUNDBITE: (Urdu) Altaf Hussain Morio, local resident:
"For her return we can pay any cost because we are very happy and delighted. We have prepared banners, posters and signboards. We are working day and night to offer her a grand welcome. Every student, farmer and labourer has joined us to welcome Benazir."
7. Various of local residents and musicians playing and singing as part of celebrations
8. SOUNDBITE: (Urdu) Abdul Ghani, local resident:
"Poor and oppressed people of the area are very happy since they have heard news of Benazir's return. Once our sister returns, God willing, unemployment would go away and there would be opportunities for every educated youngster. And God willing, every wish of our heart would come true after her return."
9. Wide of street with welcome banners in background
10. Wide of poster showing pictures of Benazir Bhutto and her late father Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (another former prime minister)
11. Close-up of Benazir Bhutto's face on poster
12. Wide of welcome banners hanging over street
13. Wide of traffic on street
14. Wide of sunset
STORYLINE:
Celebrations were already underway in Larkana, a city near the hometown of exiled former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, as residents dreamed of a brighter future upon her return from an eight-year exile.
Bhutto's return was scheduled for this week.
Larkana, the fourth largest city in Pakistan's Sindh province, some 450-kilometres northwest of Karachi and home to about one (m) million people, is a stronghold of Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party and hopes to benefit economically if she makes a return to power.
Bhutto, whose two governments between 1988 and 1996 were hounded by accusations of mismanagement and corruption, has the status of a heroine in the city.
The streets of Larkana were festooned with billboards, posters and stickers of her and her late father, another former prime minister, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
Benazir Bhutto was due to land in Karachi on Thursday and thousands of supporters were expected to greet her.
While many Pakistanis remain sceptical about Bhutto, amid accusations she sold her democratic principles by securing an amnesty from President General Pervez Musharraf, people in Larkana still strongly support her.
"For her return we can pay any cost because we are very happy and delighted. We have prepared banners, posters and signboards. We are working day and night to offer her a grand welcome. Every student, farmer and labourer has joined us to welcome Benazir," said local resident Altaf Hussain Morio.
Set in about four-thousand acres (1,619 hectares) of rice and sugarcane fields and guava orchards, Bhutto's sprawling residence is testament to her family's vast landholdings and wealth in Sindh province.
Like much of the city, it too has been decked out in ornamental lights to add to the carnival atmosphere when Bhutto travels there after touching down in Karachi, just after the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr.
Police and scores of Bhutto's own people guard the house round-the-clock and prevent outsiders from going inside, amid fears she could be targeted by Islamic militants.

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