Bhutto's son to pursue legacy, but only after studies

By Katherine Baldwin

LONDON (Reuters) - Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the teenage son of slain Benazir Bhutto, said on Tuesday he planned to pursue his mother's legacy but stressed he wanted to finish his studies first and pleaded to be left in peace by the media.

Bilawal, 19, suggested he became chairman of Bhutto's opposition Pakistan People's Party (PPP) not out of choice but out of duty, saying his education was his priority and he was not ready to lead yet.

Oxford University student Bilawal, Bhutto's only son and eldest child, became heir to the country's most powerful political dynasty after his mother was killed in a gun and bomb attack on December 27 while campaigning for elections.

Asked if he planned to lead the PPP after his studies, he told a news conference: "At the moment, I do intend to, but the situation may change ... I fully intend to complete my studies."

Pressed as to how a 19-year-old who had not lived in Pakistan could aspire to lead the country, he said: "I do not claim to have any aspiration. I've been called and I've stepped up which is what I was asked to do."

Bilawal has spent most of his life between Dubai and London, his family homes during Bhutto's long exile.

"Pakistan was burning and we needed to show a united front. It was a moment of crisis and we needed to stop the violence," he added at a press conference in a London hotel, packed with some 25 television crews, rows of photographers and reporters.

"Politics is also in my blood, and although I admit that my experience to date is limited, I intend to learn."

But he said he would step into the role of party chairman "gradually and carefully".

The PPP appointed Bhutto's husband Asif Ali Zardari as co-chairman and he is running the party as it prepares to contest parliamentary elections on February 18. The vote was delayed after Bhutto's murder.

Bilawal said his mother's death had not deterred him from politics, rather it had made him more "resilient".

Asked if he feared for his life, he said: "I fear more for my privacy."

He urged the media to leave him and his sisters, who are studying in Dubai, alone. He said he had been distressed by the media's persistence, including the creation of duplicate profiles of him on the social networking website Facebook.

But he did not shy from political questions and had a dig at the United States: "I believe the problem is that dictatorships breed extremism and once the U.S. stops supporting dictators we can successfully tackle extremists."

He reiterated his family's request for a United Nations-sponsored investigation into his mother's murder, saying it did not believe an inquiry run by the Pakistani government had the necessary transparency.

(Editing by Matthew Jones)