Benazir Bhutto's widower Asif Ali Zardari is elected Pakistan president

Profile: Asif Ali Zardari

Asif Ali Zardari has won Pakistan's presidential elections in yet another dramatic turning point in the life of one of Pakistan's most controversial figures.

Mr Zardari was thrust into the centre stage of current political developments when his wife, the charismatic former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in December.

Since then he has led her Pakistan People's Party (PPP) through successful general elections and worked with former political enemies to force President Pervez Musharraf to resign.

And yet before Ms Bhutto's death, Mr Zardari's public image was so bad that the PPP kept him out of the public eye as much as possible during the campaigning for February's elections.

Prison sentences

Mr Zardari was seen as a politically liability for the PPP.

He spent several years in jail on charges of corruption. He was labelled "Mr 10%".

He found himself in major trouble in 1990 when he was accused of tying a remote-controlled bomb to the leg of a businessman and sending him into a bank to withdraw money from his account as a pay-off.

However, he was whisked out of prison to be made a minister after the PPP won elections in 1993.

In 1996, he was arrested under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance. He found himself charged with the murder of Mir Murtaza Bhutto, his wife's brother.

He was later charged, along with his wife, and convicted in a kickbacks scam involving a Swiss company, SGS.

But a mistrial was declared by Pakistan's Supreme Court following a major scandal involving the accountability bureau and the judge who had issued the verdict.

Pakistan's judiciary has not had a reputation for acting independently of the government when it comes to high-profile cases, especially of a political nature.

His last prison sentence lasted eight years until 2004, during which time he says he was tortured.

It ended as the then General Musharraf was engaged in protracted negotiations with Benazir Bhutto, then in self-imposed exile, for some form of political reconciliation.

'Personal bravery'

Mr Zardari resolutely stood by his party as well as his wife - although at times he disagreed with the politics of both.

His friends say this was entirely in character and that no-one can deny his personal courage.

A close friend recounts an incident in the 1980s when he was still a polo-playing and horse-riding bachelor.

"We were on a cross-country ride in Karachi when one of our company, the daughter of a German diplomat, fell into a bog with her horse.

"There were 40 of us. We all stood around stunned except for this one man, Asif Ali Zardari, who jumped in and pulled out the girl and then the horse as well.

"During all this time, he could have drowned at any time himself."

'Fall guy'

Asif Ali Khan Zardari was born and bred in Karachi to Hakim Ali Zardari, head of one of the "lesser" Sindhi tribes, who chose the urban life over rustic surroundings.

Asif grew up in Karachi and was educated at St Patrick's School - ironically also the alma mater of Pervez Musharraf.

His father did relatively well, - the young Zardari's main claim to fame was that he had a private disco at home, helping him gain the reputation as a "playboy".

When he married Benazir, the icon of the anti-establishment cause in Pakistan, he became "the designated fall guy", a close family friend says.

"Zardari knew this and accepted it. He walked into the marriage knowing it would always be about her, and never about him."

Family first

After his release from prison in 2004, Mr Zardari kept a low profile, undergoing medical treatment in the US.

He suffers from diabetes and a spinal ailment which prevents him from moving around without the help of a walking stick.

He also worked to re-establish his relationship with his children after years of separation.

Party-watchers said Mr Zardari and Ms Bhutto's marriage had become one of convenience.

"They were living their separate lives, but both made sure to keep up appearances," one close friend says.

However, Benazir appreciated her husband's loyalty, knowing that "despite his failings, he always stood by his family no matter what", one of her confidants says.

Now he takes over the top post in the country, proving testament to his political skills.

He is faced with a country beset with desperate problems and also has the country's most popular politician, Nawaz Sharif, sitting on the opposition benches.

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