NEWS RELEASE

10/17/01

Elaine Ray, News Service (650) 723-7162; e-mail: elaineray@stanford.edu

BENAZIR BHUTTO, FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF PAKISTAN, TO SPEAK AT STANFORD

Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister of Pakistan, will give a talk at 8:00 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 18, in Stanford's Memorial Auditorium. The event is sponsored by the Speaker's Bureau of the Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU).

Bhutto, 48, first became prime minister of Pakistan in 1988. She was ousted in 1990 after she and her husband were charged with corruption. Reelected in 1993, she lost her post again in 1996 amid similar allegations. Since then, she has lived in exile in the United Arab Emirates and England. Her husband remains imprisoned in Pakistan.

Currently on a speaking tour in the United States, Bhutto recently told reporters that restoring democracy in Pakistan and encouraging democracy in other countries in the region is essential to "defanging" terrorists. She has expressed support for Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in a coup two years ago. Bhutto has been critical of Osama bin Laden.

Benazir Bhutto is the daughter of former Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was ousted from office in 1977 and executed in 1979. She was educated at Radcliffe College and Oxford University

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By Elaine Ray