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Benazir Bhutto's political life...
Benazir Bhutto's second home coming after eight years of self-imposed exile has come amid a political crisis in Pakistan.
Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's second home coming after eight years of self-imposed exile has come 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 three-year imprisonment
April 1986: Bhutto arrives in Lahore from exile to a rapturous welcome by a million of supporters to lead the Pakistan People's 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 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.
