LAHORE: Although, the December 31, 2009 deadline given by the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to the panel investigating Benazir Bhutto’s murder is expiring on Thursday (tomorrow), the former Pakistani premier continues to feature in the list of 20 unfortunate heads of government or state in the last 500 years, whose murders either remain unsolved todate or whose killers could not be brought to justice despite identification.

These rulers were either killed while still in power or met unnatural deaths when away from the throne.

Benazir Bhutto, however, is the only female head of the government who is part of this list of 20. In her case, what is more regrettable is the reality that her own political party had won Pakistan’s 2008 polls just 53 days after her murder and despite being in power since then, her own cronies are yet to nab her assassins. And then her case becomes more deplorable if one takes into account the fact that her husband Asif Zardari is the country’s President since September 2008.

A peek into the archives divulges that since the 16th Century, vagueness continues to shroud the visibly baffling deaths of 20 world leaders including the likes of the former US President John Kennedy, the ex-Indian Premier Rajiv Gandhi, General Ziaul Haq and the Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.

These kings, presidents and premiers whose murder mysteries either remain unsolved or whose killers are yet to be apprehended are:

1) Aztek Emperor Moctezuma II was killed in Mexico in 1520. While Spanish blamed the Azteks for his murder, the Azteks leveled accusations against the Spanish.

2) King Charles XII of Sweden was assassinated in 1718. Many thought he died in action, but there were others who believed it was a cold-blooded murder.

3) King Taksin of Thailand was put to death in 1782. Many historians think he was actually executed, but there is a school of thought which argues that the King was held captive by his foes in a fortress where he died.

4) Emperor Komei of Japan was either poisoned to death or was killed by Small Pox in 1840.

5) King Ghazi of Iraq died in an inexplicable sports car accident in 1939. Many believe he was actually killed on the orders of his political opponents.

6) King Ananda Mahidol of Thailand died of gunshot wounds, suicide or accident in 1946. The cause of his death is still unknown.

7) BarthÈlemy Boganda, the Prime Minister of the Central African Republic, perished in a plane crash in 1959.

8) John Kennedy, the US President was killed in November 1963. Though government investigations concluded that he was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald, this conclusion was not accepted by 80 per cent Americans who still hold belief contrary to these findings. Oswald was himself murdered before trial; therefore, Kennedy’s assassination is still the subject of widespread debate and has spawned numerous conspiracy theories. In 1979, the House Select Committee on Assassinations found both the original FBI investigation and the Warren Commission Report to be seriously flawed in this case.

9) Edward Mutesa, the King of Uganda, was either murdered or died from alcohol poisoning in London in 1969.

10) Haile Selassie, the Emperor of Ethiopia, was found murdered in 1974. His death was officially said to be from natural causes, but a persistent allegation is that he was smothered with a pillow.

11) Omar Torrijos, President of Panama, died in a plane crash in 1981.

12) Eduardo Frei Montalva, President of Chile died in 1982. His death is being investigated because of allegations that he was poisoned.

13) Samora Machel, President of Mozambique, was killed in an air crash in 1986 on the South African border. He was a leading anti-Apartheid spokesman.

14) General Ziaul Haq, the military ruler of Pakistan, died in a plane crash in August 1988 along with numerous high-ranking Army officials.

15) Rajiv Gandhi, the Indian Prime Minister, was killed in May 1991. The assassination was carried out by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam. Although the Jain Commission report has nominated various people and agencies, suspecting them of having been involved in the murder plot of Rajiv Gandhi, none is yet to be brought to justice.

16) Zviad Gamsakhurdia, the former President of Georgia, died in 1993 in circumstances that are still very unclear.

17) JuvÈnal Habyarimana, the President of Rwanda was killed in a puzzling plane crash in 1994. His death resulted in political instability, leading to the genocide in Rwanda and the outbreak of full-scale war in Burundi.

18) Cyprien Ntaryamira, the President of Burundi, was killed in a mystifying plane crash in 1994.

19) Former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated on February 14, 2005 in Beirut. The investigation, led by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and the United Nations into his assassination, is still underway and fingers are being pointed at various suspects.

20) Two-time Pakistani Premier Benazir Bhutto was killed on December 27, 2007 in Rawalpindi. Despite the fact that her own party is in power and her husband Asif Zardari is the President, her killers are still at large.

Facts collected by The News also reveal that during this last half-a-millennium, the number of rulers who were either executed through both politically motivated and fair court trials, or were otherwise murdered stands at exactly 200 today.

While the quest for the crown led to the assassination of 173 rulers during these 500 years under review, no fewer than 27 were executed by firing squads, guillotine or were hanged to death, following trials carried out by their successors.

The list of 27 executed rulers includes formidable names such as Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Saddam Hussain, Charles 1 of England, King Louis XVI of France, Maximilien Robespierre of France, Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, the fascist Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, the Premier of Vichy France Pierre Laval, Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, the Norwegian Minister President Vidkun Quisling, the former Iraqi Prime Minister Abdul Karim Kassem, the Turkish Premier Adnan Menderes, the Japanese Premier Hideki Tojo, the Chinese President Chen Gongbo, the Prime Minister of Grenada Maurice Bishop and former Iranian Premier Amir Abbas Hoveida.