Pakistan's former prime minister Benazir Bhutto took her election campaign to the power base of Islamist groups yesterday, urging Pashtuns living on the Afghan border to vote for her.

Bhutto, who survived an assassination attempt blamed on Islamist militants last month, said she was confident her Pakistan People's Party would sweep the January 8 general election.

"I have come here to seek your help and co-operation to turn this land of Pashtuns into a cradle of peace," she said while addressing around 2,000 party activists in Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province that borders Afghanistan.

"I appeal to you not to fall into the trap of those who believe in violence... Reject those who want to form the government at gunpoint."

Bhutto returned to Pakistan last month from an eight year self-imposed exile to challenge President Pervez Musharraf's grip on power. Musharraf's political allies are likely to fare badly in the election, putting a question mark over his long-term rule.

Pakistani tribal areas along the border are known as safe havens for al Qaeda and ethnic Pashtun Taliban militants who fled US-led forces hunting them in Afghanistan following the September 11 attacks in 2001.