Chronology

Key events in Benazir Bhutto’s career:

April 4, 1979: Benazir Bhutto’s father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, is executed after being convicted of conspiring to murder an opponent in a trial seen as tainted, two years after his ouster as premier in a coup.

April 10, 1986: Benazir Bhutto returns from exile in London to lead the Pakistan People’s Party, founded by her father.

Dec. 2, 1988: Bhutto’s party wins parliamentary elections and at 35, she becomes the first female prime minister of a Muslim nation.

Aug. 6, 1990: President Ghulam Ishaq Khan dismisses Bhutto’s government, alleging corruption and a failure to control ethnic violence.

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

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

April 15, 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.

Oct. 12, 1999: Gen. Pervez Musharraf, head of the armed forces, seizes power from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup.

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

Oct. 18: Bhutto returns.

Oct. 19: She narrowly escapes a suicide bombing that kills more than 140 people during a homecoming procession in Karachi.

Nov. 9: Police throw barbed wire around Bhutto’s house to keep her from speaking at a rally to protest Musharraf’s imposition of emergency rule. Security forces round up thousands of her supporters.

Nov. 13: Authorities put Bhutto under house arrest for the second time in a week. She urges Musharraf to resign and says it is likely her party will boycott the January parliamentary elections. She also indicates a desire to build an alliance with other opposition leaders, including Sharif.

Nov. 30: Bhutto presents her election manifesto, dimming the prospect of an opposition boycott.

Dec. 1: Bhutto launches her election campaign, urging resistance against Islamic militancy.

Dec. 8: Gunmen kill three people in an attack on one of Bhutto’s party offices.

Dec. 9: Sharif’s party announces that it will participate in the elections, after failing to persuade Bhutto to join a boycott.

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

Dec. 27: Minutes after Bhutto addresses thousands of supporters in Rawalpindi, she is assassinated.

Source: Associated Press