Bhutto's journey: A woman who fought for her way through

4 April 1979
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, former Prime Minister of Pakistan, is hanged in the Rawalpindi District Jail, where he had been confined since his conviction in 1978 on charges of conspiring to murder a political opponent four years earlier. In 1977, his government had been overthrown by a military coup, led by Gen. Mohammad Zia ul-Haq.

In Pakistan, the Making of a Martyr
28 May 1979
Bhutto's widow, Nusrat, and daughter, Benazir, are released after being detained two months before the execution. Both had been active in his Pakistan People's Party and had been detained to minimize demonstrations against his conviction and the denial of subsequent appeals.

November 1980
Bhutto, eager to avenge her father's death, expresses interest in being Prime Minister, no small feat in a male-dominated Islamic country.

29 August 1985
Bhutto is placed under house arrest, eight days after returning to Pakistan from self-imposed exile to mark the death of her younger brother.

Bhutto's Daughter, a Foe of Zia, Under House Arrest in Pakistan
10 April 1986
Amid cheers, Ms. Bhutto returns to Pakistan to take the reins of the party her father had founded. Tens of thousands of supporters lined the streets chanti, "Welcome daughter of Pakistan" and "Benazir brings the revolution" and calling for the ouster of President Zia ul-Haq.

5 May 1986
Bhutto, now leader of the opposition, threatens to mobilize her supporters against the government if General Zia does not set a date for elections.

17 November 1988
Bhutto's party emerges from national elections with the largest voting bloc in Parliament.

3 December 1988
Prime Minister Bhutto is sworn into office, becoming the first woman prime minister of a Muslim nation.

6 August 1990
Bhutto's government is dismissed by the President of Pakistan after only 20 months in office. The president, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, accused her administration of corruption, nepotism and other acts "in contravention of the Constitution and the law." Bhutto blames the military for her ouster.

15 October 1990
A high court upholds the president's dismissal of Bhutto's government.

25 October 1990
In an election that Bhutto had hoped to win to vindicate herself after her dismissal, her opponents, the Islamic Democratic Alliance, win a clear majority. The party is led by Nawaz Sharif, the Chief Minister of the province of Punjab.

7 October 1993
After more than two years of political battling, Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party captures the most seats in parliamentary elections. She will return for a second term as prime minister.

Benazir Bhutto's Long Road Back
5 November 1996
Pakistan's President dismisses Bhutto as head of the government, justifying the action with a proclamation that depicted her administration as incompetent, corrupt and defiant of constitutional restraints on executive power. Bhutto's husband, who had been widely accused of enriching himself with kickbacks on government contracts, was reported to have been arrested while trying to flee the country.

16 April 1999
A Pakistani court convicts Bhutto of having taken kickbacks while in office. She is sentenced to five years in prison and barred from holding political office. The court also sentenced her husband, already jailed and awaiting trial on separate charges, to five years, and fined them both $8.6 million. Bhutto, in London at the time the sentences are handed down, denies all the charges but remains in self-exile.

6 April 2001
Pakistan's Supreme Court sets aside the convictions and orders a retrial for Bhutto and her imprisoned husband.

23 November 2004
Bhutto's husband, Asif Ali Zardari, is released on $16,900 bail after eight years in prison.

5 October 2007
The government of Gen. Pervez Musharraf announces an accord that includes amnesty for Bhutto, clearing the way for the general to run for re-election as president and for Ms. Bhutto to return to Pakistan for parliamentary elections.

18 October 2007
Bhutto returns to a tumultuous welcome in her home city of Karachi. As hundreds of thousands of supporters line the streets, two huge blasts explode feet from the truck in which she is traveling. Bhutto is unhurt but the death toll climbs over 100, with hundreds more wounded.

27th December 2007
In a second bid on her life, a sucide bomber assasinate former Prime Minister Bhutto