LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Benazir Bhutto: Corruption
built 618 days ago
Last week, Baloch showed he was still devoted to the Bhuttos — even though Benazir had again fled Pakistan in 1999, to escape corruption charges (which she denies) and yet another military coup. Baloch danced out the door once more, leaving his pregnant wife at home, and chanting the same slogans. But this time Baloch did not come home. His nephew found his body in a Karachi morgue, victim of a devastating suicide attack on Bhutto's homecoming procession that saw 141 dead and hundreds critically injured. More than a third of the dead and injured hailed from Lyari. The following day, Bhutto praised those in the PPP who had lost their lives, saying that their sacrifice proved that the people of Pakistan were behind her.
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Bhutto became the first female prime minister in the Muslim world when she was elected in 1988 at the age of 35. She was deposed in 1990, re-elected in 1993, and ousted again in 1996 amid charges of corruption and mismanagement. She said the charges were politically motivated but in 1999 chose to stay in exile rather than face them.
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After nearly nine years of self-imposed exile, Bhutto is making plans to go home. At presstime, she had set a date of October 18. Because long-standing corruption charges against her may end up being dropped, she will probably not risk another arrest or deportation upon arrival. Indeed, she may well be allowed to run for prime minister, an office from which she was twice ousted on a variety of charges (all of which she maintains were politically motivated and false). Technically, she is not eligible to serve a third term as premier, but that prohibition may be soon be lifted with the approval of Pakistan's current president, General Pervez Musharraf.
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On July 23, 1998, the Swiss Government handed over documents to the government of Pakistan which relate to corruption allegations against Benazir Bhutto and her husband.[27] The documents included a formal charge of money laundering by Swiss authorities against Zardari. The Pakistani government had been conducting a 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 her husband. The Pakistani government recently filed criminal charges against Bhutto in an effort to track down an estimated $1.5 billion she and her husband are alleged to have received in a variety of criminal enterprises.[28] The documents suggest that the money Zardari was alleged to have laundered was accessible to Benazir Bhutto and had been used to buy a diamond necklace for over $175,000.[29] The PPP has responded by flatly denying the charges, suggesting that Swiss authorities have been misled by false evidence provided by the Government of Pakistan.
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A deeply polarizing figure, Ms. Bhutto, the “daughter of Pakistan,” was twice elected prime minister and twice expelled from office in a swirl of corruption charges that propelled her into self-imposed exile in London for much of the past decade. She returned home this fall, billing herself as a bulwark against Islamic extremism and a tribune of democracy.
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Bhutto, who lived in Dubai and London since 1999 to avoid allegations of misstating her wealth and taking kickbacks on state contracts, flew back to Pakistan after Musharraf agreed to drop corruption cases against her. The opposition leader held the post of prime minister twice between 1988 and 1996.
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