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Bhuttos Mourn; Son Eyed as Successor

19-year-old Bilawal could take up leadership of PPP

By Jason Farago, Newser Staff

Posted Dec 28, 2007 12:44 PM CST

(Newser) – Benazir Bhutto was the Pakistan People's Party's "chairperson for life," and her assassination leaves a vacuum in the leadership of the country's largest party. One possible successor, reports the Globe and Mail, is her 19-year-old son Bilawal, who, with his family, attended his mother's burial today. Bhutto's widower, Asif Ali Zardari, refused to speculate on the leadership, saying, "All I can say is we're devastated."

Bilawal Bhutto is a student at Oxford, his mother's alma mater, and the eldest of her three children; she was said to have been grooming him to carry on the family's legacy. More immediately, reports the Hindu, Zardari could become provisional leader, as could two other prominent politicians: Makhdoom Amin Fahim, a loyal Bhutto aide, and Aitzaz Ahsan, a top lawyer detained for protests during the state of emergency.

Benazir Bhutto, center, former prime minister of Pakistan, comes out of Landhi jail with her son Bilawal Bhutto, left, and daughter Asifa Bhutto after meeting her husband Asif Zardari on Sept. 25, 1998,... (Associated Press)

Bilawal Bhutto, son of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, attends his mother's funeral at her family's mausoleum, in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh, near Larkana, Pakistan on Friday, Dec. 28, 2007.... (Associated Press)

Asif Ali Zardari, left, husband of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, gestures along side their son Bilawal during Bhutto's burial at her family's mausoleum, in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh, near... (Associated Press)

Asif Ali Zardari, husband of former Pakistan prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, uses mobile phones to make calls, following the departure of his wife to Pakistan from Dubai, Saturday, Nov. 3, 2007 in Dubai,... (Associated Press)

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, 3rd left, hugs a woman next to her husband Asif Ali Zardari, 2nd right, and daughter, Asfa, 1st right, as she leaves her house to the airport to depart for... (Associated Press)

Customers at the Pakistani restaurant Naimatkada in New York watch live coverage on Pakistani television of Asif Ali Zardari, the husband of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto following the assassination... (Associated Press)

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Bhuttos Mourn; Son Eyed as Successor

19-year-old Bilawal could take up leadership of PPP

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Bhuttos Mourn; Son Eyed as Successor

19-year-old Bilawal could take up leadership of PPP

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OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

Pakistan • Benazir Bhutto • Pakistan People's Party • Asif Ali Zardari • Bilawal Bhutto Zardari • Makhdoom Amin Fahim • Aitzaz Ahsan

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Bhutto's Party Nominates New Prime Minister

Ex-speaker once went to jail to avoid cutting deal with Musharraf

Bhutto's Party Delays PM Decision

Meeting ends without expected nom; Bhutto widower will decide

Bhutto Loyalist Frontrunner to Be Pakistan PM

Musharraf's party concedes defeat after drubbing at ballot box

Bhutto's Niece Calls Party Undemocratic

Young writer says Benazir backers 'cash in on her blood'

Bhutto's Son Quietly Political at Oxford

'Well-liked' student backed mother on his Facebook page

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