Bhutto's Political Career
Some of the key events in the career of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
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Bhutto's father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, is executed for the murder of a political opponent, two years after his ouster as prime minister in a military coup. Benazir was placed under house arrest.
LINK: Bhutto's Return
STORY: Fast Facts: Pakistan
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Bhutto is allowed to go back to the United Kingdom, where she had studied in the mid-1970s, she becomes leader in exile of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), her father's party.
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Bhutto returns from exile in London to lead the Pakistan People's Party (PPP).
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Bhutto, aged 35, becomes the first woman prime minister of a Muslim nation after winning parliamentary elections.
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President Ghulam Ishaq Khan dismisses Bhutto's government, citing corruption and a failure to control ethnic violence.
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Bhutto takes oath for a second term as prime minister.
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President Farooq Leghari dismisses Bhutto's second administration amid accusations of nepotism and undermining the justice system.
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A court finds Bhutto guilty of corruption while she is out of the country. The conviction was later quashed, but Bhutto remains in exile.
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President Gen. Pervez Musharraf signs a corruption amnesty covering other cases against Bhutto, opening the way for her return and a possible power-sharing agreement.
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Bhutto flies into Karachi and is greeted by tens of thousands of supporters amid tight security. The homecoming is marred when bombs rip through Bhutto's street parade, killing more than 130 people. She is unhurt.
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Pakistani authorities briefly placed Bhutto under house arrest and barred her supporters from staging a mass demonstration against Musharraf's emergency rule.
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Authorities put Bhutto under house arrest for the second time in a week, and a senior government official said that she was grounded until at least Nov. 15. Bhutto was being held to prevent her from leading a protest procession; the government said it was being done for her safety. Bhutto demanded President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's resignation and opened the door to an alliance with Nawaz Sharif, who was ousted by the general in a coup eight years ago.
LINK: Bhutto's Return
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Bhutto is assassinated in a suicide bombing that also kills at least 20 others at a campaign rally.
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Opposition parties routed allies of President Pervez Musharraf in parliamentary elections. The party of slain former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and another group led by ex-premier Nawaz Sharif won more than half of the 272-seat National Assembly.
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Benazir Bhutto's widower, Asif Ali Zardari, began his term as Pakistan's new president three days after winning an election by legislators. He took the oath of office at a brief ceremony in the presidential palace vacated by Pervez Musharraf, who resigned under pressure in August.
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Credits:
CBS/AP
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