Benazir, the steely and vulnerable

She was hailed as one of the Muslim world's first democratically elected female leaders, and, at 35, one of the youngest ever prime ministers.

I will remember many faces of the Benazir Bhutto I saw over 20 years of following her turbulent political career: a charismatic populist who could hold forth for hours in her native Urdu language to huge, often frenzied crowds; a prime minister who would stride, head held high, through the corridors of power nodding "asalamaleikhum" to everyone on the way; a woman who could be downright silly; a mother who doted on her three children.

Over the years we have discussed everything from the nature of democracy to her latest diet, persistent allegations of corruption against her and her husband Asif Ali Zardari, and the unrelenting demands of her very political life.

She disappointed many during her two terms as prime minister. But whatever her flaws, she had courage.

The political game was in her blood. And, there was that deeply held belief - she would deny - that as a Bhutto she was "born to rule," that her destiny and Pakistan's was one and the same.

I have watched her closely since her momentous return from eight years in exile in October.

Emotional return

In our last meeting outside Islamabad in November she spoke with glee of returning to her homes in Pakistan and finding her bright - now congealed - nail polishes and the shalwar kameezes that no longer fitted and were out of fashion