2 May 2013 Last updated at 15:21 ET

Profile: Bilawal Bhutto Zardari

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was still a student at Oxford University when his mother was assassinated in December 2007

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the son of Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and murdered ex-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, was barely 19 when he inherited a role in a dynasty whose history is steeped in power and bloodshed.

Three days after his mother's assassination in December 2007, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari took over her position as chairman of the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP).

Despite his sudden thrust to the top of the political echelon, the student initially kept a low profile, focusing instead on finishing his degree at Oxford University.

But five and a half years on, all eyes are fixed on the history graduate, who returned to Pakistan in 2010.

Although he cannot stand for parliament until his 25th birthday in September, he is nevertheless expected to start taking on a more active role as PPP chairman.

Evidence of that was clearly seen in December 2012, when it appeared that Mr Bhutto Zardari was on the verge of fulfilling what many in the media hoped would be a new Pakistani "sonrise" when he addressed a rally in Sindh Province on the fifth anniversary of the assassination of his mother.

"He came, he saw and he conquered," was how the Pakistani Daily Times summed up his formal arrival in politics.

His journey may only have just begun, but such is the pressure of his family name that he will find it difficult to escape comparisons with his mother and his father.

But it seems that the heir to one of South Asia's most famous political dynasties is very much his own man - reports of policy disagreements with his father have been ubiquitous in the Pakistani press in recent months.

'One without equal'

Mr Bhutto Zardari had just turned 19 when his mother died in a gun and bomb attack during her election campaign in December 2007.

His appointment as chairman was considered a strategic move to consolidate the party using the Bhutto legacy: the PPP has been founded and always led by a Bhutto family member.

As Mr Bhutto Zardari made his first public appearance before the world, President Zardari also announced that his son would be linked with his mother's famous last name.

Born in September 1988, a month before his mother was elected prime minister, Mr Bhutto Zardari was given a name meaning "one without equal".

While friends of Benazir Bhutto have said that she always envisaged her son becoming her political heir, they agreed that she would not have wanted him to have to bear that burden so young.

Bilawal was by his mother's side when she was re-elected in 1993

He has spent most of his life outside Pakistan, travelling with his mother, who went into self-imposed exile in 1999, moving between London and Dubai.

Mr Bhutto Zardari speaks several languages, including Arabic and Urdu, and is described as a keen sportsman who enjoys cricket, shooting and horse-riding. He also has a black-belt in taekwondo.

In joining Oxford's Christ Church college, Mr Bhutto Zardari followed in the footsteps of both his mother and his grandfather, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Pakistan's first elected prime minister and founder of the PPP.

Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was executed under martial law in 1979.

Mr Bhutto Zardari quoted his mother at his first press conference in 2007, saying: "My mother always said democracy is the best revenge."

He did not look entirely at ease as party supporters broke into chants of: "Bilawal, step forward! We are with you!"

But many in Pakistan expect Benazir Bhutto's son to carry on his family's legacy and join the maelstrom of national politics.