Benazir bhutto assasinated

The former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto was killed today after a suicide bomb attack as she left a public rally. Here are some of the key events in her career:
April 4 1979: Bhutto's father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, is executed for the murder of a political opponent, two years after he was ousted as prime minister in a military coup.

April 10 1986: Bhutto returns from exile in London to lead the Pakistan People's party that her father founded.


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December 1 1988: Bhutto, aged 35, becomes the first female prime minister of a Muslim nation after winning parliamentary elections.
August 6 1990: President Ghulam Ishaq Khan dismisses Bhutto's government, citing corruption and a failure to control ethnic violence.

October 19 1993: Bhutto takes the oath for a second term as prime minister.

November 5 1996: President Farooq Leghari dismisses Bhutto's second administration amid accusations of nepotism and undermining the justice system.

April 14 1999: A court finds Bhutto guilty of corruption while she is out of the country. The conviction is later quashed, but Bhutto remains in exile.

October 5 2007: President General Pervez Musharraf signs a corruption amnesty covering other cases against Bhutto, opening the way for her return and a possible power-sharing agreement.

October 18 2007: Bhutto flies in to Karachi, where tens of thousands of supporters give her a rousing welcome amid tight security. Two bombs go off near her vehicle. More than 140 people are killed in the assassination attempt.

December 27 2007: Bhutto dies after a suicide bomb attack in Rawalpindi.


The British foreign secretary, David Miliband, called for "restraint but also unity" as he expressed his shock at Bhutto's death.

"All those committed to a stable future for Pakistan will condemn without qualification all violence perpetrated against innocent people," he said. "In targeting Benazir Bhutto extremist groups have in their sights all those committed to democratic processes in Pakistan. They cannot and must not succeed."

Malik, Bhutto's security adviser, questioned the adequacy of protection for Bhutto.

"We repeatedly informed the government to provide her proper security and appropriate equipment including jammers, but they paid no heed to our requests," he said.

It appears the Musharraf government had been considering ways to strengthen her security, and it forced Bhutto's PPP to cancel a rally in Rawalpindi in November due to security fears.

Today's Rawalpindi rally only went ahead after hundreds of riot police had set up security checkpoints. Rawalpindi is a so-called garrison city and popularly regarded as one of the most secure cities in Pakistan.

On Bhutto's return to the country in October after eight years in exile, a local Taliban leader threatened to unleash a series of suicide attacks.

Although today's attacks bore the hallmarks of Islamist opponents to the moderate Bhutto, critics attacked Musharraf.

In Rawalpindi, grieving supporters tore down the posters of Musharraf's ruling party and attacked police, who fled from the scene. Angry supporters also took to the streets in Peshawar, while in Karachi shop owners quickly closed for business as activists from Bhutto's party burned tyres on the roads.

The assassination came two months after more than 140 people were killed when suicide bombers struck a parade celebrating Bhutto's return from exile in the southern city of Karachi.