Death of the first woman prime minister of a Muslim country

1:53pm Thursday 27th December 2007

The death of Benazir Bhutto comes after she had returned to Pakistan after spending more than eight years in exile in Britain to avoid corruption charges.

Today's rally was part of her campaign for the country's parliamentary elections which are due on January 8.

These are some of the key events in her career: :: April 4, 1979 - Ms Bhutto's father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, is executed for the murder of a political opponent, two years after he was ousted as prime minister in a military coup.

:: April 10, 1986 - Ms Bhutto returns from exile in London to lead the Pakistan People's Party that her father founded.

:: December 1, 1988 - Ms Bhutto, aged 35, becomes the first woman prime minister of a Muslim nation after winning parliamentary elections.

:: August 6, 1990 - President Ghulam Ishaq Khan dismisses Ms Bhutto's government, citing corruption and a failure to control ethnic violence.

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

:: November 5, 1996 - President Farooq Leghari dismisses Ms Bhutto's second administration amid accusations of nepotism and undermining the justice system.

:: April 14, 1999 - A court finds Ms Bhutto guilty of corruption while she is out of the country. The conviction was later quashed, but Ms Bhutto remains in exile.

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

:: October 18, 2007 - Ms Bhutto flies in to Karachi, where tens of thousands of supporters give her a rousing welcome amid tight security. Two bombs go off near the a vehicle she is travelling in.

:: December 27, 2007 - Ms Bhutto dies after a suicide bomb attack in Rawalpindi.