Benazir Bhutto was born on June 21, 1953, into a wealthy landowning family. Her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founded the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and was president and later prime minister of Pakistan from 1971-77.

After gaining degrees in politics at Harvard and Oxford universities, she returned to Pakistan in 1977, just before the military seized power from her father. She inherited the leadership of the PPP after her father's execution in 1979 under military ruler General Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq.

First voted in as prime minister in 1988, Bhutto was sacked by the then-president on corruption charges in 1990. She took power again in 1993 after her successor, Nawaz Sharif, was forced to resign after a row with the president.

In 1999, both Bhutto and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, were sentenced to five years in jail and fined $8.6 million on charges of taking kickbacks from a Swiss company.

Bhutto returned to Pakistan in October 2007 from eight years of self-imposed exile after Musharraf granted her protection from prosecution in old corruption cases.

Bhutto came to China for the first time in 1972 and met then premier Zhou Enlai. As Pakistani prime minister, she made her first visit in February 1989 and then in December 1993. She also came to attend the 4th UN Women's Conference in Beijing in September 1995.

Agencies - China Daily

(China Daily 12/28/2007 page8)