Zeenews Bureau
Islamabad, Dec 27: Former Prime Minister Benazir
Bhutto's second homecoming after eight years of self-imposed
exile came amid a political crisis in Pakistan.
Following is a brief chronology of major developments
in Bhutto's political life:
April 4, 1979: Benazir Bhutto's father, former Prime
Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, is executed by military dictator
Zia-ul-Haq. Bhutto allowed to leave for England in 1984 after
a three-year imprisonment
April 1986: Bhutto arrives in Lahore from exile to a
rapturous welcome by million of supporters to lead the
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) against Zia-ul-Haq.
November 16, 1988: The PPP wins elections organised
after Zia-ul-Haq was killed in an air crash.
December 2, 1988: Bhutto sworn in as Pakistan's first
woman Prime Minister.
August 1990: Bhutto dismissed by President Ghulam
Ishaq Khan on charges of corruption and misrule. Her husband
Asif Zardari arrested on kidnapping charges.
October 1990: PPP loses elections and sits in
opposition for three years while Nawaz Sharif is Prime
Minister.
October 1993: PPP returns to power and Bhutto
is re-elected Prime Minister for a second term.
October 1996: President Farooq Ahmed Leghari sacks
Bhutto on charges of corruption and abuse of power. Zardari
arrested once again and imprisoned on a range of corruption
and criminal charges.
April 1999: A Pakistani court convicts Bhutto and
Zardari of receiving kickbacks worth millions of dollars for
awarding a contract to two Swiss firms during her 1993-96
rule. The conviction overturned two years later.
April 1999: Bhutto goes into self-imposed exile in
London and Dubai, vowing to return to Pakistan and contest
elections in 2002.
October 12, 1999: Musharraf overthrows Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif in a coup after Sharif tries to sack him as Army
chief.
July 2002: Musharraf issues a decree barring former
premiers who have served two terms from serving a third,
widely viewed as targeting Bhutto and Sharif.
October 10, 2002: Nationwide polls are held without
Bhutto who is warned she will be jailed if she returns. The
PPP wins 80 of 342 National Assembly seats.
July 2003: A Swiss court finds Bhutto and Zardari
guilty of laundering 12 million dollars through Swiss bank
accounts and hands them a six-month suspended jail term. The
sentence is later overturned on appeal.
November 2004: Zardari is released from prison after
serving eight years on corruption charges, and reunites with
Bhutto in exile.
January 2006: Interpol issues international notices
following a request by Pakistan for the arrest of Bhutto and
Zardari on corruption charges.
July 3-10, 2007: Pakistani troops besiege and storm the
radical Red Mosque in Islamabad, killing at least 100 people.
July 13, 2007: Bhutto praises the operation, sparking
outrage among hardliners. A suicide bomber later attacks her
party headquarters, killing 15 people.
September 2007: Musharraf and Bhutto aides step up
talks in London and Dubai over a power-sharing pact.
September 14, 2007: PPP announces Bhutto will return on
October 18.
October 4, 2007: Bhutto and Musharraf agree on National
Reconciliation Accord. Musharraf signs deal for an amnesty
which clears Bhutto of graft charges.
October 6, 2007: Musharraf wins Presidential election.
October 13: The government urges Bhutto to delay her
return until a court rules whether the amnesty deal is legal.
October 17, 2007: At a press conference in Dubai,
Bhutto confirms she will return as planned, saying "Pakistan's
future is at stake."
October 18, 2007: Bhutto reaches Karachi after eight years of self-imposed exile
November 13, 2007: Bhutto is placed under house arrest for a week in Lahore, says Musharraf must quit as President.
December 26, 2007: Bhutto wows to fight for workers right taking her campaign for January general elections to an industrial belt near the capital.
December 27, 2007: Bhutto shot dead
First Published: Thursday, December 27, 2007, 00:00