BENAZIR BHUTTO

'Benazir Bhutto' (Sindhi:بینظیر ڀھٽو ) (Urdu: بینظیر بھٹو) (b. 21 June 1953 in Karachi) is a Pakistani politician, who became the first woman to lead a post-colonial Muslim state. Bhutto was elected Prime Minister of Pakistan in 1988, to be deposed 20 months later by president Ghulam Ishaq Khan on allegations of corruption and widespread kleptocracy. Ishaq used the Eighth Amendment to dissolve parliament and force an election. Bhutto was re-elected in 1993 but was dismissed three years later amid various corruption scandals by then president Farooq Leghari, who also used the Eighth Amendment discretionary powers. The Supreme Court upheld President Leghari's dismissal by a 6-1 ruling.^[1] In 2006, Interpol issued a request for her arrest and that of her husband.^[2] Recently, Bhutto has repeatedly said through the media that she will return to Pakistan in the latter half of 2007.
Benazir Bhutto is the eldest child of the deposed premier Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Begum Nusrat Bhutto who was of Kurdish origin. Benazir studied Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the University of Oxford and also has a degree from Harvard University. Her paternal grandfather was Sir Shah Nawaz Bhutto, a Sindhi.
According to Stanley Wolpert the famous biographer of the personalties of the subcontinent , the riches of the Bhutto clan date back to the time of Moghul Islamic fundamentalist king Aurengzeb who awarded these vast lands to a Hindu Rajput origin chieftein who converted to Islam during his reign .This clan migrated from Arid portion now part of India to these well irrigated lands now part of Sindh Pakistan.

Education & Personal Life

Pakistan

Bhutto attended Lady Jennings Nursery School and then the Convent of Jesus and Mary in Karachi. After two years of schooling at the Rawalpindi Presentation Convent, she was sent to the Jesus and Mary Convent at Murree. She passed her O-level examination at the age of 15.Bookrags Encyclopedia of World Biography entry

United States

After completing her early education in Pakistan, from 1969 to 1973 she attended Radcliffe College in Massachusetts, Harvard University where she obtained a B.A. degree ''cum laude'' in comparative government.^[3] She was also elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Britain

Between 1973 and 1977 Bhutto studied Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University. In December 1976 she was elected president of Oxford Union, becoming the first Asian woman to head the prestigious debating society.
Furthermore she completed a course in International Law and Diplomacy at Oxford.^[4]
On December 18, 1987, Benazir married Asif Ali Zardari in Karachi. The couple have three children-Bilawal, Bakhtwar and Aseefa.

Prime Minister

After completing university, she returned to Pakistan, but in the course of her father's imprisonment and execution, she was placed under house arrest. Having been allowed in 1984 to go back to the United Kingdom, she became leader in exile of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), her father's party, but was unable to make her political presence felt in Pakistan until the death of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq.
On November 16, 1988, in the first open election in more than a decade, Benazir's PPP won the single largest bloc of seats in the National Assembly. Bhutto was sworn in as Prime Minister of a coalition government on December 2, becoming at age thirty five the youngest person and also the first woman to head the government of a Muslim-majority state in modern times. That same year, People Magazine included Ms. Bhutto in its list of The Fifty Most Beautiful People.

Policies for women

During election campaigns, the Bhutto government voiced concerns over social issues of women, health and discrimination against women. Bhutto also announced plans to set up women's police stations, courts and women's development banks.Despite these promises, Bhutto did not propose any legislation to improve welfare services for women. During her election campaigns, Bhutto promised to repeal controversial laws (such as Hudood and Zina ordinances) that curtail rights of women in Pakistan. However, during her two terms in power, her party did not fulfil these promises due to immense pressure from the opposition.
One of the biggest problems of Benazir and of infact scions of feudal class of Pakistan is that whilst they may have good academic qualifications they do not actually work in the western world and hence remain deficient in real technical skills . Benazir had no prior administrative experience or even parliamentary experience before being appointed as PM in 1988 on recommendatory letter of President Reagin to then Pakistani President Ishaq khan .
She had shown quite well in elections but was short on majority and was defeated in Punjab the most populous province by Nawaz Sharif .Thus with split mandate and inexperience her tenure was of chaos . This period also saw loss of pakistani support for Sikh homeland Khalistan and relative silence on Kashmir cause by Pakistan .
Her party did, however, initiate legislation during General Musharraf's regime to repeal the Zina ordinance. These efforts were defeated by the right-wing religious parties that dominated the legislatures at the time.

Second Term

Bhutto as head of the Pakistan People's Party.

The return of her sole surviving brother, Mir Murtaza Bhutto, from exile in Syria in 1993, caused the Prime Minister a number of problems including a public disagreement with her mother, who had sided with her son Mir.
Mir Murtaza was immediately arrested and jailed for about half a year on murder and sedition charges. He was accused of masterminding the 1981 hijacking of a Pakistani Airlines plane that left one passenger dead. A charge was filed under the previous government, run by a dictator, and both Bhuttos maintained this charge was false. While incarcerated Mir ran for, and won, a seat in the Sindh Assembly, after which he was released.
Soon after his release, he warned the government not to arrest him again, saying: "There would be trouble if the police try to arrest me without a warrant."
In 1995 he formed a group that split from the ruling Pakistan People's Party and accused his sister of corruption. However shortly before his death there were signs of reunification and meetings in the Prime Minister's house, where the siblings appeared to begin reconciliation.
On the night of Thursday 19 September 1996, Murtaza was shot dead along with six other party activists in a police encounter near his residence, during his own sister's premiership. Several weeks later, on November 5, the PPP government was again dismissed, on basis of corruption by her own party member and appointed President Farooq Leghari. Asif Zardari, Benazir's husband, was charged with the murder and the case is still pending.
The daughter of late Mir Murtaza , Fatima Bhutto (A poetess and critical writer ) from his first Afghan wife blames in a roundabout away the administration of Pakistan for her Father's murder , she implicitly neither blamed nor excluded blame for her father killing on Benazir (Big B in her words).(Reference The news, Pakistan). This constitutes the greatest long term impediment for her political career .Benazir walked barefooted to the hospital where Mir Murtaza's body was lying after the shoot out . At the time it was rumoured that her husband Zardari was not on good terms with Mir Murtaza . That murder till now remains a mystery .
These cases including the case of corruption are being discussed with current ruler Musharraf to write of cases and convictions in corruption cases against her and her party workers.

Exile

After being dismissed by the then-president of Pakistan under charges of corruption, her party lost the elections held in October. She served as the leader of the opposition while Nawaz Sharif became PM for the next three years. In October 1993 elections were again held, which were won by the PPP coalition, returning Bhutto to office until 1996, when once again her government was dismissed on corruption charges.

Charges of corruption

Bhutto was charged with corruption and faced a number of legal proceedings (the resolution of which seems to vary depending on opinion) in Pakistan. She has also been charged with laundering state-owned money through Swiss banks, in a case that remains before the Swiss courts. Her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, spent eight years in prison under similar charges of corruption. Kept in solitary confinement, he claims that his time in prison involved torture; human rights groups also claim that Zardari's rights have been violated. Zardari was released from jail in 2004, but Bhutto and her husband continue to face allegations by (among others) the Pakistani government, of having stolen hundreds of millions of dollars by demanding "commissions" on government contracts and tenders. Over the past decade, the couple have faced an approximate combined total of 90 legal cases; while eight cases still remain, Bhutto maintains that the charges levelled against her and her husband are purely politically motivated.^[5]^[6]
"Most of those documents are fabricated," she said, "and the stories that have been spun around them are absolutely wrong."
A recently released Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) report presents information suggesting that Benazir Bhutto was ousted from power in 1990 as a result of a witch-hunt approved by then-president Ghulam Ishaq Khan.^[7] The AGP report says that Khan had approved a payment of Rs. 28 million to marshal "an army of legal advisors" for the purpose of filing 19 corruption cases against Bhutto and her husband in 1990-92, and was referenced in one of Pakistan's English-language daily newspapers, The News, on the 25th of July, 2006.
A 1998 article in the ''New York Times''^[8] indicates that Pakistani investigators have documents that uncover a network of bank accounts all linked to the family's lawyer in Switzerland with Asif Zardari as the principal shareholder in most of these corporations. According to the article, documents released by the French authorities indicated that Zadari offered exclusive rights to Dassault, a French aircraft manufacturer, to replace the air force's fighter jets in exchange for a 5% commission to be paid to a corporation in Switzerland controlled by Zardari. The article also said a Dubai company received an exclusive license to import gold into Pakistan for which Asif Zardari received payments of more than $10M into his Dubai-based Citibank accounts. The owner of the company denied that he had made payments to Zardari and claims the documents were forged. The paper also said that Zardari's parents, who had modest assets at the time of Bhutto's marriage, now own a 355-acre estate south of London. The estate has been auctioned through a court order.

Switzerland

On July 23, 1998, the Switzerland Government handed over documents to the government of Pakistan which relate to corruption allegations against Pakistan's opposition leader, Benazir Bhutto and her husband, Asif Zardari.^[9] The documents include a formal charge of money laundering and an indictment by the Swiss authorities against Mr Zardari. The Pakistani government had been conducting wide-ranging inquiry to account for more than $13.7 million frozen by Swiss authorities in 1997 that was allegedly stashed in banks by Bhutto and husband, whom he also asks Pakistan to indict. The Pakistan government recently filed criminal charges against Bhutto in efforts to track down an estimated $1.5 billion she and husband are alleged to have received in kickbacks and commissions in variety of enterprises.^[10]
The documents suggest that the money which Zardari is alleged to have laundered was accessible to Benazir Bhutto and had been used to buy a diamond necklace for over $175,000.^[10]
However the PPP replied to the assertion that the Swiss authorities have been misled by false evidence provided by Islamabad.
August 6, 2003, Swiss magistrates found Benazir and her husband guilty of money laundering.^[12] They were given six-month suspended jail terms, fined $50,000 each and were ordered to pay $11 million to the Pakistani government. The six-year-long case alleged that Benazir and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, deposited in Swiss accounts $10 million given to them by a Swiss company in exchange for a contract in Pakistan. The couple said they would appeal. The Pakistani investigators say Zardari, opened Citbank account in Geneva in Feb 1995 through which they say he passed some $40 million of the $100 million he received from payoffs from foreign companies doing business in Pakistan.^[13]

Poland

The Polish Government has given Pakistan 500 pages of documentation relating to corruption allegations against Benazir Bhutto and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari nickname of “Mr 10%.”^[14] These relate to concerns in the purchase of 8,000 tractors in the 1997 tractor purchase deal.^[15]^[16] According to Pakistani officials, the Polish papers contain details of illegal commissions paid by the tractor company in return for agreeing to their contract.^[17] It is said that the arrangement was initiated and "skimmed" Rs 103 mn rupees ($ 2.0 mn) in kickbacks^[5] from a scheme to make available inexpensive Polish tractors, in a bid to boost farming output, not to the farmers benefit ."The documentary evidence received from Poland confirms the scheme of kickbacks laid out by Asif Zardari and Benazir Bhutto in the name of (the) launching of Awami tractor scheme," APP said. Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari received 7.15 per cent commission on purchase of tractors through their front men, Jens Schlegelmilch and Didier Plantin of Dargal S.A., who received about $1.969 million for supplying 5,900 Ursus Tractors.^[19]

France

Potentially the most lucrative deal uncovered by the documents involved the effort by Dassault Aviation, the French military contractor, to sell Pakistan 32 Mirage 2000-5 fighter planes. These were to replace two squadrons of American-made F-16s whose purchase was blocked when the Bush administration determined in 1990 that Pakistan was covertly developing nuclear weapons.
In April 1995, Dassault found itself in arm's-length negotiations with Zardari and Amer Lodhi, a Paris-based lawyer and banker who had lived for years in the United States, working among other things as an executive of the now-defunct Bank of Commerce and Credit International. Lodhi's sister, Maleeha, a former Pakistan newspaper editor, became Bhutto's ambassador to the United States in 1994.
Schlegelmilch, the Geneva lawyer, wrote a memo for his files describing his talks at Dassault's headquarters on the Champs-Elysees in Paris. According to the memo, the company's executives offered a "remuneration" of 5 percent to Marleton Business SA, an offshore company controlled by Zardari. The memo indicated that in addition to Dassault, the payoff would be made by two companies involved in the manufacture of the Mirages: Snecma, an engine manufacturer, and Thomson-CSF, a maker of aviation electronics.
The documents offered intriguing insights into the anxieties that the deal aroused. In a letter faxed to Geneva, the Dassault executives — Jean-Claude Carrayrou, Dassault's director of legal affairs, and Pierre Chouzenoux, the international sales manager — wrote that "for reasons of confidentiality," there would be only one copy of the contract guaranteeing the payoff. It would be kept at Dassault's Paris office, available to Schlegelmilch only during working hours.
The deal reached with Schlegelmilch reflected concerns about French corruption laws, which forbid bribery of French officials but permit payoffs to foreign officials, and even make the payoffs tax-deductible in France. The Swiss and the French have resisted American pressures to sign a worldwide treaty that would hold all businesses to the ethical standards of American law, which sets criminal penalties for bribing foreign officials.
"It is agreed that no part of the above-mentioned remuneration will be transferred to a French citizen, or to any company directly or indirectly controlled by French individuals or companies, or to any beneficiary of a resident or nonresident bank account in France," one of the Dassault documents reads.
Negotiations on the Mirage contract were within weeks of completion when Bhutto was dismissed by another Pakistani president in 1996. They have bogged down since, partly because Pakistan has run out of money to buy the planes, and partly because the Pakistan Army, still politically powerful a decade after the end of military rule, waited until Bhutto was removed to weigh in against the purchase.
A Dassault spokesman, Jean-Pierre Robillard, said Carrayrou, the legal affairs director, had retired. Two weeks after he was sent a summary of the documents, Robillard said that the company had decided to make no comment.

Middle East

In the largest single payment investigators have discovered, a gold bullion dealer in the Middle East was shown to have deposited at least $10 million into one of Zardari's accounts after the Bhutto government gave him a monopoly on gold imports that sustained Pakistan's jewelry industry. The money was deposited into a Citibank account in the United Arab Emirates sheikdom of Dubai, one of several Citibank accounts used by Zardari.
Pakistan's Arabian Sea coast, stretching from Karachi to the border with Iran, has long been a gold smugglers' haven. Until the beginning of Bhutto's second term, the trade, running into hundreds of millions of dollars a year, was unregulated, with slivers of gold called biscuits, and larger weights in bullion, carried on planes and boats that travel between the Persian Gulf and the largely unguarded Pakistani coast.
Shortly after Bhutto returned as prime minister in 1993, a Pakistani bullion trader in Dubai, Abdul Razzak Yaqub, proposed a deal: In return for the exclusive right to import gold, Razzak would help the government regularize the trade.
In January 1994, weeks after Bhutto began her second term, Schlegelmilch established a British Virgin Island company known as Capricorn Trading, SA, with Zardari as its principal owner. Nine months later, on Oct. 5, 1994, an account was opened at the Dubai offices of Citibank in the name of Capricorn Trading. The same day, a Citibank deposit slip for the account shows a deposit of $5 million by Razzak's company, ARY Traders. Two weeks later, another Citibank deposit slip showed that ARY had paid a further $5 million.
In Nov. 1994, Pakistan's Commerce Ministry wrote to Razzak informing him that he had been granted a license that made him, for at least the next two years, Pakistan's sole authorized gold importer. In an interview in his office in Dubai, Razzak acknowledged that he had used the license to import more than $500 million in gold into Pakistan, and that he had travelled to Islamabad several times to meet with Bhutto and Zardari. But he denied that there had been any secret deal. "I have not paid a single cent to Zardari," he said.
Razzak offered an unusual explanation for the Citibank documents that showed his company paying the $10 million to Zardari, suggesting that someone in Pakistan who wished to destroy his reputation had contrived to have his company wrongly identified as the depositor. "Somebody in the bank has cooperated with my enemies to make false documents," he said.
Benazir had a army of good professional lawyers , she was bailed out of some of the cases by legal expertise of leading lawyers like Senator Babar Awan . It is also thought that gradually improving relations with Musharaf regime also played the part .

During Exile

2002 election

The Bhutto-led Pakistan People's Party (PPP) got the highest number of votes and sixty-two seats in the national assembly in the October 2002 general elections. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) won fifteen seats. Number of party's members elected to assemblies eventually left it and joined the PPP-Patriots led by Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat, the former leader of Bhutto led PPP and PML-Q. They later formed the coalition government with other parties.

Afghanistan policy

It was during Bhutto's rule that the Taliban gained prominence in Afghanistan due to her support.^[20] Bhutto and the Taliban were openly opposed to each other when it came to social issues. According to the Taliban codes, as a woman she had no right to be in power. However, she saw the Taliban as a group that could stabilise Afghanistan and then allow economic access to trade with Central Asian republics.^[21] Her government provided military and financial support for the Taliban, even as far as sending a very small number of the Pakistani army into Afghanistan.^[21] The Taliban took power in Kabul in September 1996.
Whilst the real reason for her supporting Taliban can only be ascertained from Benazir but it seems likely that she desperately wanted allies , be they Army Generals and their ever changing projects or be it Saudia . The original Mujaheddin leadership were creating problems for Pakistan , a destroyed Kabul due to Hikmatyar-Massoud rivalry was giving urban refugees to Pakistan . Warlordism and unsafe roads were rife . Taliban changed all that and brought order and peace and safe travel .

Early 2000s

In 2002 Pakistan's current president, Pervez Musharraf, introduced a new amendment to Pakistan's constitution, banning prime ministers from serving more than two terms. This disqualifies Bhutto from ever holding the office again. This move was widely considered to be a direct attack on former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. On August 3, 2003, Bhutto became a member of Minhaj ul Quran International (An international Muslim educational and welfare organization).^[23]
Bhutto is currently (as of September 2004) based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where she cares for her children and her mother, who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease, and from where she travels around the world giving lectures and keeping in touch with the Pakistan Peoples Party's supporters.
Benazir and her three children (Bilawal, Bakhtawar and Asifa) were reunited with her husband and their father in December 2004 after a period of more than five years.

2007

Bhutto has vowed to return to Pakistan and run for Prime Minister in the next general elections scheduled for November of 2007.
On January 27, 2007, she was invited by the United States government to speak to President Bush, senior Republicans, Democrats as well as the State Department officials on her annual visit to the White House.^[24]
Bhutto appeared as a panelist on the BBC TV current affairs programme Question Time in the UK in March 2007. She has also appeared on BBC current affairs programme Newsnight on several occasions. She rebuffed comments made by Muhammad Ijaz-ul-Haq in May 2007 regarding the knighthood of Salman Rushdie, citing that he was calling for the assassination of foreign citizens.
Bhutto, speaking to a television channel said she will give up her self-imposed exile and return to Pakistan in the last week of October 2007. ^[25]
Bhutto claims that she intends to return to Pakistan before the end of 2007. Musharraf insisted in May 2007, however, that Bhutto would not be allowed to return ahead of the country's general election, due late 2007 or early 2008. She may even be offered the office of prime minister again.^[26]^[27]^[28]
Arthur Herman, a U.S. historian, in a controversial letter published in The Wall Street Journal on 14 June 2007, in response to a recent article by Ms. Bhutto highly critical of the president and his policies, has described her as ''"One of the most incompetent leaders in the history of South Asia"'', and asserted that she and other elites in Pakistan hate Musharraf because he is a muhajir, the son of one of millions of Indian Muslims who fled to Pakistan during partition in 1947. Herman claimed, "Although it was muhajirs who agitated for the creation of Pakistan in the first place, many native Pakistanis view them with contempt and treat them as third-class citizens."^[29]^[30]^[31]
However, as of mid-2007, The US is discreetly pushing for a deal in which Musharraf would remain as president but step down as military head, and either Bhutto or one of her nominees would become prime minister.^[28]
On July 11, 2007, the Associated Press, in an article about the possible aftermath of the Red Mosque incident, wrote:

Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister and opposition leader expected by many to return from exile and join Musharraf in a power-sharing deal after year-end general elections, praised him for taking a tough line on the Red Mosque.
I'm glad there was no cease-fire with the militants in the mosque because cease-fires simply embolden the militants," she told Britain's Sky TV on Tuesday. "There will be a backlash, but at some time we have to stop appeasing the militants."^[33]

This remark about Red mosque was seen with dismay in Pakistan as reportedly hundreds of young students were roasted to death and remains are untraceable and cases are being heard in Pakistani supreme court as a missing persons issue. This and subsequent support for Musharaf led Elder Bhutto's comrades like Khar to criticize her publically.
Bhutto however advised Musharaf in an early phase of the latter's quarrel with the Chief justice, to restore him. Her PPP did not capitalize on its CEC member, Aitzaz, the chief Barrister for the Chief justice, in successful restoration. Rather he was seen as a rival and was isolated. Consequently the PPP is not expected to perform well in Punjab in the next elections and open rebellion in her party has already started against her policies which may win friends in Washington but not in the Punjab and Pashtoon areas of Pakistan.

Possible deal with the Musharraf Government

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf held an ostensibly secret "successful meeting" with Benazir Bhutto on July 27, 2007 in Abu Dhabi, according to Pakistani Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed. Both Musharraf and Bhutto initially denied this report.^[34] After the alleged meeting was over, the some sources confirmed that that the Pakistani Government had restored some previously frozen bank accounts of Bhutto's 15 days prior to the July 27 meeting to demonstrate the Pakistani Government's seriousness in its discussions with her. Sources have suggested that further release of other banks accounts belonging to Bhutto will follow a final deal between Musharraf and Bhutto.^[35]
In an August 8, 2007, interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Bhutto demurred as to rumours that the July 27, 2007 meeting between Musharraf and herself centred on her desire to return to Pakistan for the 2008 elections, and the idea of Musharraf retaining the Presidency with Bhutto becoming Prime Minister. Her emphasis in the CBC interview, demonstrating her appeal to the West, was on her self-proclaimed capacity to root out Muslim extremism.
Bhutto was later interviewed on August 21, 2007 by Margaret Warner on PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer about her talks with Musharraf, giving more specifics^[36] The day before, a column by Roy Hattersley voiced his support for her based on his years of reporting on her political career.^[37]
On August 29, 2007, Bhutto declared that Musharraf would step down as chief of the army.^[38]^[39]
Bhutto who vowed to return to her country “''very soon''” announced that she will discuss details of her return on 14 September even if there had been deal with Gen Musharraf who is stepping down as army chief but will seek a new term as president. Former Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif will return to challenge Gen. Musharraf.^[40]
With current activism and public interest in the judiciary and taking up of a ''suo moto'' notice by the supreme court of Pakistan, even any deal with Musharaf cannot rescue Benazir from her legal cases, as unrelated persons can reinstitute these. Some observers believe that a deal has occurred with Musharaf and that the agenda of the deal goes wider than the election of a president and constitutional amendments. As a result no news has come about concerning the next army chief's selection procedure, even though both the USA and UK were involved in parleys and issues where Taliban must have cropped up.
The Musharaf Benazir parleys go back to 2004 when USA got worried about Musharaf's sucession after suicide bomb attacks and sending troops to Iraq from other nations was also desired by the USA. Her husband Zardari's release was seen as outcome of such proximity. Zardari did not remain long in picture as he took ill, suspected to be suffering from Cardiac condition.
Mnay observers see the deal as next to impossible as Musharaf's own allies esp PMLQ are not ready to change constitution to allow third time PM ship for both Benazir and Nawaz. They see it as axeing one's own feet. Similarly whereas the reprieve granted by Musharaf to Nawaz is covered and cannot be challenged under 17th Amendment section 10 (section 270AA pakistani constitution alterations) the withdrawal of cases by NAB on benazir by Musharaf is not covered by such amendments and can be heard in courts with other parties taking up the case.
By 8th September despite American interest in arranging a deal and US's Richard Boucher's, John Negroponte's and UK Miliband the deal is neither complete and more imprtantly not finding some ground to settle upon . Benazir is facing biggest revolt to her decision . Importants elements of her party esp related to judiciary and media launched joint effort for restoration of chief justice with other ARD parties as PML(N) and are mentally reconciled to coalition government with Nawaz . The sudden taking on of Benazir of Nawaz has led to increasing revolt . The backing away of Musharaf's allies PML(Q) from the deal put Benazir at a hilarious situation with her party apparatus and its hard core voters as neither deal is possible and nor PPP could gain capital from movement for chief justice'srestoration .
Some sources have opined that Saudis feel that Pakistan's elections are near and change of leadership is imminent hence any change of guard in PM ship , Presidentship and army chief must not be detrimental to Saudi interests and its emmissary cum intelligence chief has made the importance of Saudi interest and Saudi political muscle In Pakistan via Nawaz and other allies in Pakistan's religious right . It is unlikely that Saudis would like anybody other than a Sunni to lead Pakistan's army on the other hand Pakistan army is not sectarian based so far .Similarly Saudis may not favour woman as Benazir as PM though she has been wellreceived in Saudia when she was PM. Elder Bhutto who was close to King Faisal of Saudia .
As PM Benazir was charged with being arrogant and dismissive of wellrespected people on a personal level and was not a popular figure in senior Civil servants but army is even more unpopular in civil servants than her.
Benazir's Pakistan people's party has changed somewhat in the last four decades. It was a left leaning assetts nationalizing party in the early 70s, its base was Industrial and agricultural labour, Students, socialists, Shiites, Ahmedeyas, Cchristains and liberal portions of the society. By the late 1970s it was dominated by feudals.By 2000 it was a semi- pro federation centrist , prowestern , liberal party with no fixed agendas despite a paper menifesto . Unlike elder Bhutto whose foriegn policy was proIslamic and internal policy anti-Islamic , Benazir has not demonstrated any fixed preferences generally is seen to follow western thoughts faithfully but cautiously .Despite being Shia she had good contacts and relations with Fazal , one of the few main sunni religopolitical leaders of Pakistan . Benazir is thought to be Pro India , Pro Israel . She cannot speak correct grammatical Urdu , the National language of Pakistan despite long stay in Pakistan.

Benazir Bhutto's Books

★ Benazir Bhutto, (1983), ''Pakistan: The gathering storm'', Vikas Pub. House, ISBN 0706924959

★ Benazir Bhutto, (1988), ''Hija de Oriente'', (Spanish language) Seix Barral, ISBN 8432246336

★ ''Daughter of the East'', Benazir Bhutto, , , Hamish Hamilton, 1989, ISBN 0-241-12398-4

★ ''Daughter of Destiny: An Autobiography'', Benazir Bhutto, , , Simon & Schuster, 1989, ISBN 0-671-66983-4

Books about Benazir Bhutto

★ W.F.Pepper, (1983), ''Benazir Bhutto'', WF Pepper, ISBN 0946781001

★ ''The Trial of Benazir'', Rafiq Zakaria, , , Sangam Books, 1990, ISBN 0-861-32265-7

★ Katherine M. Doherty, Caraig A. Doherty , (1990), ''Benazir Bhutto (Impact Biographies Series)'', Franklin Watts, ISBN 0531109364

★ Rafiq Zakaria, (1991), ''The Trial of Benazir Bhutto: An Insight into the Status of Women in Islam'', Eureka Pubns, ISBN 9679783200

★ Diane Sansevere-Dreher, (1991), ''Benazir Bhutto (Changing Our World Series)'', Bantam Books (Mm), ISBN 0553158570

★ Christina Lamb, (1992), ''Waiting for Allah'', Penguin Books Ltd, ISBN 0140143343

★ M FATHERS, (1992), ''Biography of Benazir Bhutto'', W.H. Allen / Virgin Books, ISBN 024554965X

★ Elizabeth Bouchard, (1994), ''Benazir Bhutto: Prime Minister (Library of Famous Women)'', Blackbirch Pr Inc, ISBN 1567110274

★ Iqbal Akhund, (2000), ''Trial and Error: The Advent and Eclipse of Benazir Bhutto'', OUP Pakistan, ISBN 0195791606

★ Libby Hughes, (2000), ''Benazir Bhutto: From Prison to Prime Minister'', Backinprint.Com, ISBN 0595003885

★ Iqbal Akhund, (2002), ''Benazir Hukoomat: Phela Daur, Kia Khoya, Kia Paya?'', OUP Pakistan, ISBN 0195794214

★ Mercedes Anderson, (2004), ''Benazir Bhutto(Women in Politics)'', Chelsea House Publishers, ISBN 0791077322

★ Mary Englar, (2007), ''Benazir Bhutto: Pakistani Prime Minister and Activist'', Compass Point Books, ISBN 0756517982

★ Ayesha Siddiqa Agha, (2007), ''Military Inc.: Inside Pakistan's Military Economy'', Pluto Press, ISBN 0745325459

Non-books

★ Abdullah Malik, (1988), ''Bhutto se Benazir tak: Siyasi tajziye'', Maktabah-yi Fikr o Danish, ASIN B0000CRQJH

★ Bashir Riaz, (2000), ''Blind justice'', Fiction House, ASIN B0000CPHP8

★ Bashir Riaz, (2000), ''Blind justice'', Fiction House, ASIN B0000CPHP8

★ Khatm-i Nabuvat, ASIN B0000CRQ4A

★ Mujahid Husain, ((1999)), ''Kaun bara bad °unvan: Benazir aur Navaz Sharif ki bad °unvaniyon par tahqiqati dastavez'', Print La'in Pablisharz, ASIN B0000CRPC3

★ Ahmad Ejaz, (1993), ''Benazir Bhutto's foreign policy: A study of Pakistan's relations with major powers'', Classic, ASIN B0000CQV0Y

★ Lubna Rafique, (1994), ''Benazir & British press, 1986-1990'', Gautam, ASIN B0000CP41S

★ Sayyid Afzal Haidar, (1996), ''Bhutto trial'', National Commission on History & Culture, ASIN B0000CPBFX

★ Mumtaz Husain Bazmi, (1996), ''Zindanon se aivanon tak'', al-Hamd Pablikeshanz, ASIN B0000CRPOT

★ Unknown author, (1996), ''Napak sazish: Tauhin-i risalat ki saza ko khatm karne ka benazir sarkari mansubah'', Intarnaishnal Institiyut af Tahaffuz-i

Quotes

★ "I find that whenever I am in power, or my father was in power, somehow good things happen. The economy picks up, we have good rains, water comes, people have crops. I think the reason this happens is that we want to give love and we receive love."

References

1. Pakistan Supreme Court Upholds Benazir Bhutto's Dismissal on the basis of Corruption and Extra-Judicial Killings of MQM Workers and Supporters
2. Pakistan seeks arrest of Bhutto, BBC News, January 26, 2006
3. Encyclopædia Britannica entry via about.com
4. WIC Biography - Benazir Bhutto
5. Bhutto's Husband Appeals May 11, 1999
6. World News Briefs; Bhutto's Jailed Husband Sworn In as Senator December 30, 1997
7. Pakistan Charges Bhuttos With Corruption
8. Bhutto Clan Leaves Trail of Corruption in Pakistan, by John F. Burns
9. South Asia Bhutto 'corruption' documents reach Pakistan, Thursday, July 23, 1998
10. Swiss Want Bhutto Indicted in Pakistan for Money Laundering, August 20, 1998, Thursday, By ELIZABETH OLSON
11. Swiss Want Bhutto Indicted in Pakistan for Money Laundering, August 20, 1998, Thursday, By ELIZABETH OLSON
12. Asia: Pakistan: Bhutto Sentenced In Switzerland August 6, 2003
13. THE BHUTTO MILLIONS; A Background Check Far From Ordinary, January 9, 1998, Friday, By JOHN F. BURNS (NYT)
14. Timesonline:£4m Surrey mansion in Bhutto ‘corruption’ row, November 21, 2004, By Sian Griffiths]
15. £4m Surrey mansion in Bhutto ‘corruption’ row November 21, 2004]
16. Poland gives Pak papers on $ 2-mn Bhutto bribe May 6, 1999
17. World: South Asia Poland linked to Bhutto corruption charge, Friday, May 7, 1999
18. Bhutto's Husband Appeals May 11, 1999
19. NAB says Swiss order names Benazir: Ursus tractor case 22 July 2004
20. S. Coll, ''"Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from (???)the Soviet Invasion (???) to September 10, 2001"'', Penguin Press HC, U.S. 2004
21. S. Coll, ''"Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001"'', Penguin Press HC, U.S. 2004
22. S. Coll, ''"Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001"'', Penguin Press HC, U.S. 2004
23. Minhaj-ul-Quran International, By Mr. Jawed Iqbal
24. Pakistan Times, Pakistan's ex-PM Benazir Bhutto to meet President Bush, by Khalida Mazhar, Jan 25, 2007
25. Benazir to return Pakistan in last week of October
26. Former Leader Talks of Return To Pakistan, and Maybe Power June 4, 2007
27. Bhutto claims Sharif agreed to power-sharing deal 18 Jun 2007
28. Back to Bhutto? June 28, 2007
29. Bhutto gets renewed interest in Pakistan, U.S. may accept ex-prime minister -- will her country? July 1, 2007
30. Why Bhutto and the Elites Hate Musharraf 14 June 2007
31. Benazir, elites hate Musharraf because of his ethnicity, claims US author June 15, 2007
32. Back to Bhutto? June 28, 2007
33. Mosque Crisis May Boost Musharraf's Hand July 11, 2007
34. Musharraf Explores Alliance With Bhutto July 30, 2007
35. PMDC premises stormed, officials thrashed August 29, 2007
36. (transcript and audio)
37. Pakistan can work it out Roy Hattersley, The Guardian, August 20, 2007
38. Bhutto: 'Musharraf has agreed to quit as military chief' Aug 29, 2007
39. Bhutto Expects Musharraf to Quit as Military Chief Aug 29, 2007
40. BBC NEWS, Bhutto vows early Pakistan return

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psst.. try this: add to faves

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