Islamabad: Begum Nusrat Bhutto, whose husband and daughter both served as prime ministers of Pakistan and a political force herself, died on Sunday in Dubai after a long illness, a spokesman for the family`s political party said. She was 82.
Her life tracked many of the ups and downs in Pakistani politics. Her husband, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was the founder of the Pakistan People`s Party that controls the government in Pakistan today. He served as both prime minister and president in the 1970s.
Begum Nusrat Bhutto took over as head of the Pakistan People`s Party for several years after her husband was hanged in 1979, following what many believed was a politically motivated conspiracy and murder trial
She also served in Pakistan`s Parliament.
Her daughter, Benazir Bhutto, took over as head of the Pakistan People`s Party and served twice as prime minister. She was killed in a suicide bomb attack in 2007, shortly after returning to the country to participate in elections following years of exile in Dubai. Her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, is now Pakistan`s President.
Zardari has travelled to Dubai to bring home Begum Nusrat Bhutto`s body, said Jamil Soomro, a spokesman for the Pakistan People`s Party. She will be buried in the family`s mausoleum in southern Sindh province, Soomro said.
Funeral arrangements were incomplete.
Bureau Report
