Benazir Bhutto

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On December 27, 2007, Benazir Bhutto was assassinated. 

    Benazir Bhutto was the prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990, and again from 1993 to 1996: the first democratically elected female ruler of a Muslim country. She was a leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, which her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founded. Defeated in the 1990 election and replaced in 1996, Benazir Bhutto found herself in court for charges of corruption and misconduct while in office on several occasions. While abroad in 1999, she was convicted for corruption and sentenced to three years in jail. 

    Bhutto returned to Pakistan in October 2007, and her homecoming rally was attacked by a suicide bomber. While this attack killed 136 people, the former prime minister survived. On December 27, 2007, Bhutto was once again threatened by a suicide bomber at a rally, this time proving fatal. 28 others were killed and at least 100 more individuals were wounded by the attack. However, reports from Pakistan's Interior Ministry claim that Bhutto's death was a result of hitting her head against the roof of a vehicle rather than from bullets or shrapnel. 

    American President Bush condemned the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, citing it as a threat to democracy. Following her death, violent riots that left several dead erupted, and the 2008 parliamentary elections were postponed to late February. The Interior Ministry also revealed that they had evidence tying al-Qaeda to responsibility for Bhutto's assassination, however leaders have denied involvement.