Bhutto commemoration ceremony to be held in Tehran

Tehran, June 25, IRNA – A ceremony will be held here in commemoration of Benazir Bhutto, the late leader of the Pakistan People's Party and wife of Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari.

Pakistan Embassy’s Press Attache told IRNA on the sidelines of ceremonies to welcome Zardari on Friday that Benazir’s memorial will be held on the sidelines of the International Conference on Global Fight against Terrorism (June 25-26).

He said Benazir Bhutto’s daughter, who will attend the Conference as special guest, has traveled to Iran to take part in her mother’s commemoration ceremony.

Bhutto was assassinated on 27 December 2007 in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

Bhutto, twice Prime Minister of Pakistan (1988–1990; 1993–1996) and then-leader of the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party, had been campaigning ahead of elections due in January 2008.

Shots were fired at her after a political rally at Liaquat National Bagh, and a suicide bomb was detonated immediately following the shooting.

She was declared dead at 18:16 local time (13:16 UTC), at Rawalpindi General Hospital. 24 other people were killed by the bombing.

Bhutto had previously survived a similar attempt on her life that killed at least 139 people, after her return from exile two months earlier./end