ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari has reiterated that the government is determined to expose and punish the conspirators and perpetrators of Benazir Bhutto's assassination in accordance with the law.

“They cannot and will not go unpunished,” he said on Monday in a message on the eve of the fourth death anniversary of his spouse.

He said the assassination was a conspiracy to deprive the world of its “best weapon to combat international violent extremism and rob Pakistan of its best hope to establish a fully functional democracy”.

The best way to pay tribute to her was to defend and protect democracy and the democratic institutions and to foil all conspiracies against pluralism, he said. “Let us on this day rededicate ourselves to the democratic mission of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto whose life was dedicated to fighting dictatorship and those seeking to defame and dismantle democratic institutions.

“I, therefore, urge all the democratic forces and the patriotic Pakistanis to foil all conspiracies against democracy and democratic institutions.”

He said Ms Bhutto was the first elected woman prime minister in the Muslim world, the daughter of the country's first directly elected prime minister, an undaunted champion of democracy and a great fighter for the cause of women, the underprivileged and marginalised sections of the society. She believed in the power of the ballot and rejected violent and militant extremism as an instrument of change.

She also led the fight for democracy and against militancy from the front and in doing so laid down her life, he said.

In his message, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said Ms Bhutto had joined politics for restoring and strengthening democracy.

History would remember her as a statesperson, political leader of the highest order and an intellectual who made the ultimate sacrifice for safeguarding the rights of the people, he said. He said Ms Bhutto had complete faith in the people of the country.

The prime minister said unwavering optimism for the future, belief in the strength of dialogue and a commitment to democracy set Ms Bhutto from other leaders.

“The country is faced with numerous daunting challenges at different levels at the moment but we are determined to overcome these, come what may,” Mr Gilani said.