Sharif drops plans to attend Bhutto's funeral

ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistan premier Nawaz Sharif on Friday dropped his plans to attend the funeral of assassinated opposition leader Benazir Bhutto following a request from her husband Asif Ali Zardari.

Sharif, who had described the killing as the most tragic event in the history of Pakistan, had earlier planned to travel to Larkana in Sindh province to join the funeral at Bhutto's ancestral graveyard in Garhi Khuda Buksh.

But when Sharif spoke to Bhutto's husband this morning on phone, Zardari advised the PML-N chief not to travel to Larkana on Friday in view of security concerns, Pakistan People's Party sources said.

Zardari said Sharif's presence could exacerbate the tense situation in Larkana, the sources said. PPP workers have staged violent protests in Larkana, vandalising and burning government offices, cars and trains.

Reports said Sharif would travel to Larkana later to express his condolences to the family of Bhutto, who was gunned down by a suicide attacker in Rawalpindi on Thursday

Sharif has decided to boycott the January 8 general lection in the wake of Bhutto's assassination.