Thousands of people massed around Benazir Bhutto's tomb in Garhi Khuda Bukhsh early Thursday to mark the end of the 40-day mourning period for the slain opposition leader. The day of Muslim prayers and rituals also signals the launch of campaigning by her Pakistan People's Party (PPP) for elections on February 18, with her widower Asif Ali Zardari set to deliver a keynote speech. Many mourners spent the night in tents outside the huge white Bhutto mausoleum in the rural village of Garhi Khuda Bakhsh, listening to mourning songs on tape recorders and reciting verses from the Koran. "We have to win this election -- in our leader's words, democracy is the best revenge," mourner Nabi Bux Kalhoro told Agencies. Party officials said they expected tens of thousands of people to turn out to mark Bhutto's 'chehlum' -- the completion of the mourning period following her assassination on December 27.
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