ISLAMABAD The garrison city of Rawalpindi on Friday got a Benazir Bhutto touch as the federal government renamed the city's airport, the main road running through the city and a hospital, after her. A monument at the site of her assassination was also being planned.

“Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has announced this as a mark of respect and reverence for the martyred leader and in recognition of her unparalleled services for the nation and the cause of democracy,” an announcement by the PM House said on Friday.

The PPP is celebrating Ms Bhutto's 55th birth anniversary on Saturday, which is the first after her assassination.

Islamabad International Airport, the country's third largest, has been renamed as Benazir Bhutto International Airport.

However, it came as a surprise for many that the government, instead of naming the under-construction airport after the late leader, preferred to rename the existing one.

Operations would be shifting from the existing airport to the new airport once it was completed in 2010-11. The new airport would be the country's largest and most modern airport.

The new airport is yet to be officially given a name.

The Rawalpindi General Hospital, where Ms Bhutto died on Dec 27, was also renamed as Benazir Bhutto Hospital. The 600-bed hospital, on Murree Road, was constructed as a federal government hospital in the 1960s when the federal capital shifted here from Karachi. It was subsequently handed over to the Punjab government in 1980.

Due to paucity of resources the city's overburdened teaching hospital is presently a shambles. The federal government also announced a grant of Rs50 million for the upgradation of the hospital.

Murree Road, officially known as N-15, which runs through a better part of Rawalpindi and connects it to Murree hill resort, has also got a new name - Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Road.

The part of the road in Rawalpindi city has been a hot spot for various political and social events.
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