Pakistan accuses al Qaeda of killing Bhutto

By Faisal Aziz

GARHI KHUDA BAKHSH, Pakistan (Reuters) - Benazir Bhutto was laid to rest next to her father in the family mausoleum on Friday after the opposition leader's assassination plunged Pakistan into crisis and triggered violent protests.

Pakistan's government said it had evidence al Qaeda was responsible for killing Bhutto in a suicide attack at an election rally on Thursday, but her party dismissed the claim.

The 54-year-old's death stoked fears a January 8 election meant to return Pakistan to civilian rule could be put off amid a backlash threatening to engulf embattled President Pervez Musharraf.

"We have intelligence intercepts indicating that al Qaeda leader Baitullah Mehsud is behind her assassination," an Interior Ministry spokesman said. Mehsud, based near the Afghan border, is one of Pakistan's most wanted militant leaders.

But a spokesman for Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party rejected the official explanation.

"The government is nervous," he said. "They are trying to cover up their failure" to provide adequate security.

Troops were called out to quell protests in Bhutto's home province of Sindh, where she had huge support, particularly among the rural poor. Officials said 31 people, including four policemen, had been killed since Bhutto's assassination.

Tens of thousands of mourners cried and beat their heads as Bhutto was borne from her ancestral home to the domed mausoleum.