The 24-year-old son of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto launched his political career Thursday with a fiery speech before thousands of cheering supporters observing the fifth anniversary of his mother's assassination.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's speech comes several months before national elections are expected to be held. He is too young to participate in the elections himself — the minimum age is 25 — but is likely to be a key asset for the ruling Pakistan People's Party. The party's popularity has plummeted since it took power nearly five years ago as the country has struggled with a weak economy and bloody Taliban insurgency.

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Before dawn on the same day, dozens of militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons attacked two tribal police posts in Pakistan's northwest, killing two policemen, officials said. Twenty-one other policemen are missing and presumed kidnapped.

 

Zardari was made chairman of the Pakistan People's Party after his mother's death but has mainly played a background role until now while he completed his studies at Oxford University in Britain.

"I want to tell you that thanks to God he has completed his studies, but now is the time of his training," his father, President Asif Ali Zardari, told the crowd of supporters Thursday in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh village in southern Sindh province, site of the Bhutto family mausoleum. "He has to study Pakistan, he has to learn from you and he has to work according to your thinking."

The Bhutto family has played a prominent role in Pakistani politics for much of the country's 65-year history. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's grandfather, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founded the Pakistan People's Party and served as both the country's president and prime minister in the 1970s. He was eventually hanged in 1979 after Gen. Zia ul-Haq seized power in a military coup.

Benazir Bhutto twice served as prime minister in the 1980s and 1990s but never completed a full term. Her governments were dismissed both times under the cloud of corruption allegations by presidents who were close to the country's powerful army. She was killed in a gun and suicide bomb attack on Dec. 27, 2007, shortly after returning from self-imposed exile to participate in national elections.

After her death, the Pakistan People's Party rode a wave of public sympathy to garner the most seats in the 2008 elections, and Asif Ali Zardari was elected president. But the popularity of both the party and the president has fallen significantly since then as the government has failed to address pressing problems, such as Pakistan's shortage of electricity and stuttering economy. The government has also struggled in its fight against the Pakistani Taliban, who have killed thousands of people in attacks throughout the country.

Rasul Bakhsh Rais, a political science professor at Lahore University of Management Sciences, said it was not a surprise that the Pakistan People's Party unveiled Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in an attempt to boost its fortunes in the upcoming elections, which are expected by June at the latest.

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"This is Pakistan and dynastic politics is the norm," said Rais. "Bilawal is perhaps the only card left in the chest of the Pakistan People's Party."

Both Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and his father sought to whip up the emotions of the crowd Thursday by shouting "Long live Bhutto" and "Bhutto is alive." Many of the supporters waved the red, black and green flag of the Pakistan People's Party and held pictures of Benazir Bhutto and her father.

"If you kill one Bhutto, one thousand more Bhuttos will emerge," said Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

He took a swipe at the judiciary, which has clashed with the current government, by asking why people arrested for suspected involvement in his mother's murder have yet to be convicted.

But some critics have questioned why Zardari has not done more to push forward the investigation during more than four years as president.

The president at the time of her death, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, blamed the Pakistani Taliban for the attack, and five suspected militants are facing trial for alleged involvement in the killing. The Pakistani Taliban have denied targeting Bhutto.

PhotoBlog: Bhutto's son launches political career on anniversary of mother's assassination

A Pakistani court issued an arrest warrant for Musharraf last year over allegations he played a role in the attack, which he has denied. Arrest warrants were also issued for two senior police officials accused of negligence in the assassination. Prosecutors accused one of the officials of failing to provide proper security for Bhutto and the other of cleaning the crime scene before evidence could be collected.

A U.N. investigation into the assassination said it could have been prevented and blamed all levels of government for failing to provide adequate security. It also accused intelligence agencies and other officials of severely hampering the investigation into those behind her murder.

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The attack on the tribal police posts before dawn Thursday took place in the town of Darra Adam Khel in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, government officials said. The town is located near Pakistan's tribal region, the main sanctuary for Taliban militants in the country.

Security forces have launched an operation to try to recover the 21 missing policemen, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion will likely fall on the Pakistani Taliban.

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Pakistani police arrested a Christian girl with Down syndrome on charges of blasphemy after she allegedly burned pages inscribed with verses from the Muslim holy book, local media reported.

The move prompted President Asif Ali Zardari to call police on Monday to ask for an explanation for the arrest,  Pakistan's Dawn newspaper reported.

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The girl, Rimsha, was arrested in a poor Christian area of the capital Islamabad on Thursday and was remanded in custody for 14 days after a furious mob demanded she be punished, according to the newspaper.

According to Dawn, some local reports suggested Rimsha had been burning papers gathered from a garbage dump for cooking when someone accused the family of burning pages inscribed with verses from the Quran.

"We had to register the case fairly quickly to prevent any unpleasant situation," the official told AFP,  referring to Muslim demonstrations.

Pakistani gets death for liberal governor's murder

Christians fled the neighborhood after Muslim anger over the alleged incident, Dawn reported.

"These Christians had sought shelter with their relatives in other parts of the city but now they are gradually returning to Mehrabad," the AFP quoted a senior official of All Pakistan Minorities Alliance, Tahir Naveed Chaudhry, as saying.

According to AFP news service, a police official speaking on condition of anonymity said Rimsha was in her teens. Activists, meanwhile, said she was 11 years old.

Zardari took "serious note" of Rimsha's detention, and called on the interior ministry to submit a report on the case, Dawn reported.

Growing intolerance
Pakistan, whose 180 million people are almost 95 percent Muslim, has seen an alarming spread in violent Islamist extremism since 2007.

Liberal Pakistanis and rights groups believe the blasphemy law is discriminatory against the country's tiny minority groups, and its vague terminology has led to misuse.

Christian woman faces death for insulting Islam

Zardari's government has been heavily criticized for not reforming the country's anti-blasphemy laws, despite the assassinations of a leading politician who was outspoken in his support of religious tolerance and a Christian cabinet minister in 2011.

The January 2011, Punjab provincial governor Salman Taseer was murdered in broad daylight by one of his police guards.  The guard, Mumtaz Qadri, was subsequently showered with flowers, thousands demonstrated in his defense and even mainstream politicians didn't loudly condemn the killing.

Qadri told his trial that Taseer deserved to die because of his criticism of Pakistani laws that mandate the death sentence for insulting Islam.

Slideshow: Pakistan: A nation in turmoil 

Taseer, a member of the country's ruling party, wanted amendments in the law and had defended a Christian woman sentenced to death under it.

And in March 2011, militants gunned down the only Christian in Pakistan's government outside his widowed mother's home.  The 42-year-old Roman Catholic had said he was "ready to die" for the country's often persecuted Christian and other non-Muslim minorities.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's Supreme Court decided Thursday to charge the country's prime minister, Yusuf Raza Gilani, with contempt for his failure to reopen an old corruption case against the president, a move that could oust the premier from office and land him in prison if he is convicted.

That could create political turmoil within Pakistan, the last thing the government needs as it struggles to deal with an ailing economy, a violent Islamist insurgency and troubled relations with its most important ally, the United States.

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The U.S. is likely watching the case closely since it wants Pakistan to focus on pushing the Taliban to make peace with the Afghan government so that Washington can withdraw its troops without a civil war breaking out in the country.

The Supreme Court ordered the government two years ago to write to Swiss authorities requesting they reopen the graft case against President Asif Ali Zardari, which dates to the late 1990s. But the government refused, claiming the president enjoys immunity from prosecution while in office.

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"After the preliminary hearing, we are satisfied ... there is enough (of a) case" to proceed further, the seven-member bench ordered Thursday. "The case is adjourned until Feb. 13 for the framing of charges. The prime minister will be present in person."

Gilani, speaking in Davos, Switzerland last week, had suggested a three-month period of high political tension in the country, including a standoff with the military over a mysterious memo, had eased considerably.

But Thursday's order and Gilani's anticipated appeal are expected to ensure a continued achingly slow-motion duel between the Supreme Court and the government, which has squared off with the judiciary almost since Zardari took office in 2008.

BBC: Secret report reveals Pakistan-Taliban ties

"He has the constitutional, legal right to appeal," his lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan said. "It would be my recommendation to my client to appeal. He will then decide."

If convicted, Gilani could face jail and lose his office.

The legal tussle stems from thousands of old corruption cases thrown out in 2007 by a controversial amnesty law passed under former military president Pervez Musharraf.

Zardari is its most prominent beneficiary and the main target of the court, which voided the law in 2009 and ordered the re-opening of cases accusing the president of money laundering using Swiss bank accounts. He remains the chairman of the Pakistan People's Party, which leads the coalition government.

Zardari's is the longest-running civilian administration in Pakistan's coup-marred history, but has become deeply unpopular, seen as both corrupt and incompetent.

Political instability and brinkmanship has consumed the nuclear-armed country in recent years, preventing it from addressing crushing poverty and other economic ills, or containing a rampaging insurgency that is endangering the U.S.-led war effort in Afghanistan.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Pakistan's former ambassador to the United States fears he will be murdered if he leaves the sanctuary of the prime minister's official residence after he was branded a "Washington lackey" and a "traitor," according to a new interview.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph newspaper, Husain Haqqani said that "certain powerful quarters" in Pakistan -- the paper said this was a reference to the country's ISI intelligence agency -- were behind the claims against him.

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Haqqani is at the center of a scandal that threatens to topple Pakistan's government over an alleged request to the U.S. to help stop a coup by the army, following the American raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

In October, a U.S. businessman of Pakistani origin, Mansoor Ijaz, wrote an article for the Financial Times newspaper claiming Haqqani had written a memo to U.S. Admiral Mike Mullen, who was then chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, supposedly promising to replace Pakistan's national security hierarchy with people favorable to the U.S. in exchange for help in reining in the military.

• Pakistan memo crisis adds pressure to US ties

Ijaz, who claimed he had been asked to convey the message to Mullen, further alleged that Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari supported the move. The Financial Times operates behind a paywall, but Ijaz also wrote an article for Pakistan's The News in November describing his allegations.

'Hysteria'
Both Zardari and Haqqani denied Ijaz's claims, but Haqqani subsequently resigned.

"I'm a guest of the prime minister (Yousuf Raza Gilani) with whom I have had a long-standing political association. There are clear security concerns given the hysteria generated against me. Staying at the prime minister's house is the safest option," Haqqani told the Telegraph in an interview published Wednesday.

"My good friend Salman Taseer (the late governor of Punjab) was killed by a security guard because he heard in the media that the governor had blasphemed. I'm being called a traitor and an American lackey in the media with the clear encouragement of certain powerful quarters even though I've not been charged legally with anything," he added.

He said that he had left the prime minister's house twice, once to go to court and another time to visit the dentist because he had toothache.

"The president and prime minister are firmly standing behind me and the government is not going anywhere. This is psychological warfare against the government," he told the Telegraph.

In December, Zardari, who was married to former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in 2007, said people should pay tribute to her memory by guarding against anti-democratic conspiracies, an apparent reference to tensions over the memo scandal.

He said his wife's death was also a conspiracy against Pakistani democracy.

"I therefore urge all the democratic forces and the patriotic Pakistanis to foil all conspiracies against democracy and democratic institutions," said Zardari in a statement sent to reporters.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Updated at 6:06 a.m. ET

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has traveled to Dubai after falling ill, fuelling rumors Wednesday of his possible resignation.

Close associates of the president told the Associated Press he is currently "unwell," but did not provide specifics. His condition did not appear to be life-threatening, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

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Zardari's office said he was undergoing routine medical tests and a check-up "as planned."

However, Reuters cited a source in Dubai as saying that Zardari had suffered a minor heart attack.

"Two days ago, he had chest pain," the source added.

• Slideshow: Pakistan: A nation in turmoil

Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani's office released a statement saying Zardari "went to Dubai following symptoms related to his pre-existing heart condition."

The president's spokesman denied a media report that the trip meant Zardari, who has been under pressure from a memo scandal that forced the Pakistani ambassador to the U.S. to resign, would cite failing health as a pretext to step down.

"All these reports are untrue, imaginary and speculative," spokesman Farhatullah Babar told The Associated Press.

'Noose was getting tighter'
An article published Tuesday on the website of Foreign Policy magazine quoted an unnamed former U.S. government official as saying Zardari was "incoherent" when he spoke with President Barack Obama by telephone over the weekend.

Parts of the U.S. government were also informed that Zardari had a "minor heart attack" on Monday night and might resign on account of "ill health" amid the uproar over the memo scandal, the source said.

"The noose was getting tighter -- it was only a matter of time," the former official reportedly told Foreign Policy.

The story quickly spread on Twitter and it was picked up by Pakistan's ratings-hungry television channels.

Rumors also circulated on Twitter of an army takeover on Tuesday night, but that was quickly recanted by the original poster.

"Some elements blew up this to create unrest in the country," said Fauzia Wahab, a senior member of Zardari's Pakistan People's Party. "His visit to Dubai and having a medical check-up is perfectly normal."

• US-Pakistan relations, a new all-time low?

Foreign Policy also quoted a source close to Zardari as saying that "rumors of a silent coup are sometimes a way of trying to effect a silent coup. It won't happen."

Zardari, a canny political operator, has survived many predictions of his downfall since he became president in 2008.

A Dubai-based member of Zardari's party, Mian Muneer Hans, said the president landed in Dubai around 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

"He walked to his car in the airport and was not on any ambulance," said Hans, adding that he was accompanied by his doctor and petroleum minister Asim Hussain. Zardari was taken straight to the American Hospital in Dubai, according Hans.

"He's taking rest in the hospital now. He may be there for two to three days," Hans told Reuters. 

Zardari traveled to London in September to undergo an angiography and was reportedly given a clean bill of health.

Pakistan's civilian government has been under extreme pressure in recent weeks following the resignation of its ambassador to Washington, Husain Haqqani.

The scandal centers on a memo sent in May to U.S. Adm. Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the time, asking for his help in preventing a supposed coup by the Pakistan military, following the covert American raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

The operation in a Pakistani garrison town outraged Pakistani officials because they were not told about it beforehand. It also humiliated the military because they were not able to stop it.

Mansoor Ijaz, an American businessman of Pakistani origin, has accused Haqqani of crafting the memo with Zardari's support — allegations both Haqqani and the president have denied.

• Pakistan questions its role in US-led war on terror

Tensions between Pakistan's civilian government and military have bedeviled the nuclear-armed South Asian country for almost its entire existence, with the military ruling the country for more than half of its 64-year history after a series of coups.

Relations with the United States have been rocked by a year of bust-ups despite some $20 billion in security and economic aid to Pakistan since 2001, much of it in the form of reimbursements for assistance in fighting militants.

A NATO strike on two Pakistani border posts that killed 24 soldiers on Nov. 26 also infuriated the country's powerful military, which  has a tense relationship with Zardari.

The Associated Press, Reuters and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.

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