The Muslim world's first woman to attain the office of prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, was propelled to global fame in 1988. Now, after more than nine years in exile, she is set to return home to Pakistan to rebuild her political image almost from scratch.

Her Pakistan People's party once had the reputation of being the country's largest liberal political group, a forum that embraced a cross-section of the population, from secular to centrist to anti-military.

But entering the fray of Pakistani politics through an apparent agreement with General Pervez Musharraf, the country's military ruler, has done more harm than good to Ms Bhutto's standing. Her late father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the former prime minister who was arrested in a 1997 military coup by General Zia ul Haq and hanged two years later on a controversial murder charge, is still remembered as a popular hero for his show of defiance.

His legacy was once the strongest card in the hand of his politician daughter but it is that very legacy that critics now use to denounce her.

"He (Zulfikar Ali Bhutto) had the courage to walk to his gallows rather than compromise with a general. That is how he became a hero for all time," says Iftikhar Gillani, a former law minister under Ms Bhutto. "How can Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's daughter do a deal with another general?"

Gen Musharraf announced a national reconciliation ordinance, a presidential decree that allows politicians and others charged with corruption on politically motivated grounds between January 1986 and October 1999 to be given amnesty after a review of their cases by government appointed boards.

The supreme court, which has become increasingly independent, on Friday began hearing legal challenges to the national reconciliation ordinance. The court's verdict could ultimately seal the fate of an essential element in Gen Musharraf's attempt at a rapprochement with Ms Bhutto by offering her an amnesty.

The reconciliation effort is a far cry from Ms Bhutto's demand for a South African-style truth and reconciliation commission, which was given the responsibility of dealing objectively with events under apartheid rule.

But, if charges against Ms Bhutto and others, including her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, during Ms Bhutto's two stints as prime minister (1988-1990 and 1993-1996) are withdrawn, PPP leaders insist such a withdrawal will come on merit as the charges have not been proved in a Pakistani court.

"There is much that is wrong with this ordinance. How do you deal with the obvious exclusion of some?" asks Athar Minallah, a senior supreme court lawyer, in a reference to cases against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, Gen Musharraf's main political foe.

Mr Sharif was arrested during Gen Musharraf's coup in October 1999, charged with corruption and the attempted hijacking of a Pakistani airliner, and exiled to Saudi Arabia in 2000.

Gen Musharraf's approval rating in Pakistan has fallen sharply to 21 per cent from 63 per cent in September last year, according to a poll by the US-based International Republican Institute, while Ms Bhutto's rating fell to 28 per cent - down 4 per cent.

This must surely be a source of discomfort to Ms Bhutto and Gen Musharraf at a time when they may be poised to enter a political partnership after parliamentary elections in January next year.

The poll also showed the rising popularity of Mr Sharif in Punjab, Pakistan's largest province and home to more than 60 per cent of the population but Gen Musharraf has demonstrated his unwillingness to let Mr Sharif re-enter politics.

PPP leaders insist the game is not yet lost for Ms Bhutto. During her three decades in politics, she has gained a reputation as a formidable political survivor.

"People will eventually judge Benazir Bhutto not just by her recent actions but the case she presents when she hits the election trail," says a PPP leader who has known Ms Bhutto since her entry into politics. "In 1977 when her father was taken away by soldiers and when he was presented with the possibility of being hanged, anybody else would have cracked up. Benazir, to her credit, did not give up even after the hanging."

Pakistan's ruling party under Gen Musharraf, the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid e Azam, has resigned itself to Ms Bhutto's return - in sharp contrast to PML-Q leaders of the past who were determined to see her in exile for years.

Ms Bhutto will be surrounded by tight security on her return following threats from hardline Islamists. Yet her presence on the ground will boost her image and add to the appeal of the PPP, particularly across the southern province of Sindh, home to the Bhutto political base.