Benazir Bhutto first female prime minister in Muslim world

Benazir Bhutto first female prime minister in Muslim world. Elected as prime minster of Pakistan on December 1988.

She was born on June 21, 1953, in Karachi, Pakistan, the child of former premier Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

Benazir Bhutto first female prime minister in Muslim world

Benazir Bhutto first female prime minister in Muslim world.

Bhutto inherited leadership of the PPP after a military coup overthrew her father’s government.

And won election in 1988, becoming the first female prime minister of a Muslim nation.

She returned to Pakistan after an extended exile, but, tragically, was killed in a suicide attack.

Benazir Bhutto was born on June 21, 1953, in Karachi, Pakistan, the eldest child of former premier Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

She went on to found the Pakistan People’s Party and serve as the nation’s prime minister (from 1971 to 1977).

After completing her early education in Pakistan, she pursued her higher education in the United States.

Bhutto attended Radcliffe College from 1969 to 1973, and then enrolled at Harvard University.

Where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in comparative government.

She studied at Oxford University from 1973 to 1977, completing a course in international law and diplomacy.

Bhutto returned to Pakistan in 1977, and placed under house arrest.

After the military coup led by General Mohammad Zia ul-Haq overthrew her father’s government.

One year after Zia ul-Haq became president in 1978, the elder Bhutto hanged after his conviction on charges of authorizing the murder of an opponent.

She inherited her father’s leadership of the PPP.

There more family tragedy in 1980 when Bhutto’s brother Shahnawaz killed in his apartment on the Riviera in 1980.

The family insisted he poisoned, but no charges were brought.

Another brother, Murtaza, died in 1996 (while his sister was in power) in a gun battle with police in Karachi.

Benazir Bhutto first female prime minister in Muslim world.

She moved to England in 1984, becoming the joint leader in exile of the PPP.

Then returned to Pakistan on April 10, 1986, to launch a nationwide campaign for open elections.

She married a wealthy landowner, Asif Ali Zardari, in Karachi on December 18, 1987.

The couple had three children: son Bilawal and two daughters, Bakhtawar and Aseefa.