Benazir Bhutto timeline

Jun 21, 1953: Born in Karachi

1976: After spending her childhood in Pakistan and embarking on her higher eduction at Harvard, she is elected president of the Oxford Union while reading PPE at Lady Margaret Hall.

Apr 4, 1979: Her 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.

Apr 10, 1986: Miss Bhutto returns from exile in London to lead the Pakistan People’s Party that her father founded.

Dec 1, 1988: Aged 35, she becomes the first woman prime minister of a Muslim nation after winning parliamentary elections.

Aug 6, 1990: Her government is dismissed on grounds of corruption and a failure to control ethnic violence.

Oct 19, 1993: Miss Bhutto takes the oath for a second term as prime minister.

Nov 5, 1996: Second administration is dismissed amid accusations of nepotism and undermining the justice system.

April 14, 1999: A court finds Miss Bhutto guilty of corruption while she is out of the country. The conviction was later quashed, but Ms Bhutto remains in self-imposed exile, living in Britain and Dubai.

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

Oct 18: Miss Bhutto flies in to Karachi and her welcoming parade is hit by a suicide attack, killing 136. She later accused the government of a cover-up in the investigation.

Oct 22: She receives a death threat from a “friend of al-Qa’eda” in a letter which says she could be stabbed, attacked in her car or in her bedroom.

Oct 27: Miss Bhutto leaves Karachi for the first time since the attack and is greeted by 4,000 jubilant supporters chanting “Long live Bhutto” in her ancestral village of Garhi Khuda Baksh in Sindh province. She is pictured standing up through the sun roof of her bullet proof car.

Nov 3: President Musharraf announces emergency rule. Miss Bhutto said it was Pakistan’s “blackest day” and threatens to bring her supporters on to the streets in mass demonstrations.

Nov 9: Miss Bhutto is put under house arrest in Lahore to prevent her leading a pro-democracy rally and security forces round up thousands of her supporters.

Nov 13: Authorities put her under house arrest for a second time in a week. Miss Bhutto calls for the first time for President Musharraf to quit and bring an end to his “contaminated’’ rule of Pakistan. She says she would no longer pursue power-sharing talks with a “dictator”. She also indicates a desire to build an alliance with other opposition leaders, including Nawaz Sharif, the former prime minister.

Nov 30: She launches her campaign manifesto, promising jobs, housing and healthcare. The move defies an all-opposition party election boycott. The politician and former cricketer Imran Khan accuses her of “betrayal”.

Dec 8: Three supporters of Miss Bhutto are killed when gunmen attack one of her party’s regional offices in Naseerabad.

Dec 10: Mr Sharif’s party announces it will participate in Pakistan’s parliamentary elections after failing to persuade Miss Bhutto to join a boycott.

Dec 15: President Musharraf lifts emergency rule.

Dec 25: Miss Bhutto accuses President Musharraf of failing to stop the spread of Islamic militants and promises to crack down on groups if she wins parliamentary elections.

Dec 27: Assassinated in Rawalpindi.