Pope calls Bhutto death "brutal terrorist attack"

Pope Benedict XVI leaves at the end of the Midnight Mass in Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican December 25, 2007. The Pope called on Friday for calm in Pakistan after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, which he called a ''brutal terrorist attack.''

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict called on Friday for calm in Pakistan after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, which he called a "brutal terrorist attack."

In a telegram of condolences, the spiritual leader of the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics expressed "sentiments of deep sympathy and spiritual closeness to the members of (Bhutto's) family and to the entire Pakistan nation."

"He prays that further violence will be avoided and that every effort will be made to build a climate of respect and trust, which are so necessary if good order is to be maintained in a society and if the country's political institutions are to operate effectively," read the message, signed on behalf of the Pope by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

Bhutto, a former Pakistani prime minister and leader of a major opposition party, was buried on Friday after her assassination on Thursday by a suicide attacker at a rally ahead of a January 8 election.

(Reporting by Robin Pomeroy; Editing by Catherine Evans)