Benazir Bhutto

KARACHI, Pakistan — Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan today, ending eight years of exile and launching what she hopes will be a stunning political comeback. Tens of thousands of supporters greeted her amid massive security.

Bhutto was in tears as she descended the steps of the commercial flight from Dubai that brought her home. When an Associated Press reporter asked her how it felt to be back, she said: "Good. Very good."

Bhutto, who fled Pakistan in the face of corruption charges in 1999, has chosen to come home during a period of particular uncertainty in Pakistan, as the popularity of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has waned and violence by Islamic radicals has been on the rise.

With parliamentary elections due in January, she hopes to campaign for a record third premiership — perhaps in tandem with the country's U.S.-backed military president.

Authorities have mounted a massive security operation to protect the 54-year-old from possible attack by militants.

Hundreds of buses and other vehicles festooned with billboards welcoming her back were parked bumper-to-bumper along the boulevard from the airport to the city center.

By The Associated Press