Bhutto's son leaves Pakistan: airport officials

Airport officials have confirmed that son of assassinated Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto has flown to Dubai.

The son of assassinated Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto flew to Dubai on Tuesday, two days after he succeeded her as head of her political party, airport officials said.

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Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, 19-year-old Oxford University undergraduate, left from Karachi airport with his two sisters on an Emirates flight, a senior airport official told AFP.

"They just left," the official said. The Bhutto children had earlier flown to Karachi from the family's ancestral home in the village of Naudero in southern Sindh province.

The Bhutto family, especially the children, spent much of their time in Dubai while their mother, a two-time premier, lived in exile from 1999 until October last year.

Bilawal was appointed chairman of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party on Sunday, although the role will be largely ceremonial for now and the running of the party will be looked after by his father, Asif Ali Zardari.