Born in Karachi, Pakistan June 21, 1953, Bhutto grew up with an English governess and attended Western universities. She inherited the leadership of the Pakistan People’s Party from her father, former Prime Minister Aulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was ousted in a military coup in 1977 and hanged two years later. Benazir, his oldest daughter, returned to Pakistan in 1986 after 10 years of detention and exile, vowing to restore her father’s party to power. In 1988 she became the first woman to head an Islamic country. She was ousted on corruption charges two years later but struggled back to power in 1993. President Farooq Leghari, a former ally, sacked Bhutto again on Nov. 5, 1996, charging her with sponsoring police hit squads, condoning bribery and nearly bankrupting the government. Bhutto denies the charges and promises to regain her post as prime minister. Pakistanis attribute many of Bhutto’s problems to her husband in an arranged marriage, Asif Ali Zardari, a shady businessman whom Bhutto named to her cabinet. As a government official, he was accused of taking bribes and pocketing money from government contracts. President Leghari also charged that Zardari was responsible for “extra judicial killings” in Karachi, where Bhutto rivals had been killed by police.

　　AFTER living in self-imposed exile in London and Dubai for over three years, former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto is set to end her exile and return home, defying the prospect of arrest, according to the Daily Nation, a Lahore-based newspaper. The decision was made when the 49-year-old lady was re-elected as chairperson of the Pakistan People’s Party, the largest opposition party in Pakistan, July 28. Though twice deposed as prime minister in 1990 and 1996 and has lived in exile ever since 1999 for fearing to be arrested, Bhutto remains a high reputation in her party. She won the party ballot after running unopposed, party spokesman Farhatullah Babar told media. And Bhutto has said she plans to return from self-imposed exile in the United Arab Emirates for the Oct. 10 elections.Benazir Bhutto is most likely to choose Lahore for her return. “The date is still being kept flexible but August 14 may be more probable,” sources in the Pakistan People’s Party were quoted as saying.

　　But Pakistani Law Minister Khalid Ranjah said on Tuesday that Benazir Bhutto could face arrest if she returns home for October parliamentary elections, because she was sentenced to three years in prison on July 9 on charges of corruption. Bhutto was charged with receiving kickbacks for allowing monopoly import of gold by Dubai-based Ary Traders Company in 1994 when she was prime minister. The co-accused in the case included the Commerce Ministry’s former secretary Retd Brig Aslam Hayat Qureshi, Bhutto’s jailed husband Asif Ali Zardari and Ary’s Haji Abdur Razaq. Bhutto was handed two prison sentences by the same Rawalpindi court last year for not appearing to face two other disputed corruption charges. Convictions by accountability courts, unless overturned by a higher court, automatically disqualify the convict from holding public office. Ranjah said controversial new laws, passed by the military government of Gen. Pervez Musharraf, bar people who have been convicted of crimes from serving in office. Bhutto’s latest conviction came three days after President Pervez Musharraf issued a decree effectively barring her and her one-time rival Nawaz Sharif from ever becoming prime minister again for having held the office twice. “Under the new elections laws, Bhutto can’t lead her party,” Ranjah said. Nevertheless, Bhutto wasn’t intimidated by the threats. “She will lead her party even from behind bars,” Farahatullah Babar, a party spokesman said.

　　She has survived personal drama and persecution and has seen moments of unprecedented glory and failure. Her career has taken her from the depths of the prisons of dictator Zia-ul-Haq to the heights of Pakistan’s prime ministership. Though removed from office twice and now exiled, she is planning for her next return. Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister of Pakistan, is just not a person to quit easily.