Key events in Benazir Bhutto's career:

• April 4, 1979 — Bhutto's father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, is executed for the murder of a political opponent, two years after his ouster as prime minister in a military coup.

• April 10, 1986 — Benazir Bhutto returns from exile in London to lead the Pakistan People's Party, founded by her father.

• Dec. 1, 1988 — Bhutto, age 35, wins parliamentary elections to become the first woman prime minister of a Muslim nation.

• Aug. 6, 1990 — President Ghulam Ishaq Khan dismisses Bhutto's government, citing corruption and a failure to control ethnic violence.

• Oct. 19, 1993 — Bhutto takes oath for second term as prime minister.

• Nov. 5, 1996 — President Farooq Leghari dismisses Bhutto's second administration amid accusations of nepotism and undermining the justice system.

• April 14, 1999 — A court finds Bhutto guilty of corruption while she is out of the country. The conviction was later quashed, but Bhutto remains in exile.

• Oct. 12 — Gen. Pervez Musharraf, the head of the armed forces, seizes power from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup.

• Oct. 5, 2007 — President Gen. Pervez Musharraf signs a corruption amnesty covering other cases against Bhutto, opening the way for her return and a possible power-sharing agreement.

• Oct. 18 — Bhutto returns to Pakistan more than eight years of exile. She narrowly escapes a suicide bombing that kills 140 people during a homecoming procession in Karachi.

• Nov. 9 — Police throw barbed wire around Bhutto's house to keep her from speaking at a rally to protest Musharraf's imposition of emergency rule. Security forces round up thousands of her supporters.

• Nov. 13 — Authorities put Bhutto under house arrest for the second time in a week. She urges Musharraf to resign and says it is likely her party would boycott the January parliamentary elections. She also indicates a desire to build an alliance with other opposition leaders, including former Prime Minister Sharif.

• Nov. 30 — Bhutto presents her election manifesto, dimming the prospect of an opposition boycott.

• Dec. 1 — Bhutto launches her election campaign, urging resistance against Islamic militancy.

• Dec. 8 — Gunmen kill three people in an attack on one of Bhutto's party offices.

• Dec. 10 — Sharif's party announces it will participate in Pakistan's parliamentary elections after failing to persuade Bhutto to join a boycott.

• Dec. 25 — Bhutto accuses Musharraf of failing to stop the spread of Islamic militants and promises to crack down on groups if she wins parliamentary elections.

• Dec. 27 — An attacker strikes minutes after Bhutto addresses thousands of supporters in Rawalpindi. She is fatally shot in the neck and chest by the attacker, who then blows himself up, killing at least 20 others.