Former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto has named four well-known persons, including Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi and former ISI chief Hamid Gul, as those who pose a threat to her life in a letter to President Pervez Musharraf, the media here reported on Wednesday.

In the letter written on October 16, two days before she returned to Pakistan from eight years in self-exile, Bhutto said she feared there was a threat to her life from Elahi, Gul, Hassan Waseem Afzal, the former deputy chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), and Intelligence Bureau chief Brig (Retd) Ijaz Shah, Geo TV reported.

In a press conference held hours after the suicide attack on her motorcade in Karachi on Thursday night that left nearly 140 people dead, Bhutto had, however, said she had named three persons in the letter.

She had indicated that there were also other officials who posed a threat to her life as, she claimed, they were abusing their powers and positions.

Not made public

Bhutto, who also referred to three persons posing a threat to her life in a complaint she submitted to police in Karachi, has so far not publicly named these persons. In her complaint, Bhutto only said that police should take action against “those whose names were given to Musharraf”.

The government has so far been silent on her allegations though Musharraf’s spokesman defended the IB chief’s integrity and reputation and said there was no move to sack Shah.

Some media reports had earlier suggested that Sindh Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim was also named in Bhutto’s letter.

Afzal, who played a key role in probing graft charges against Bhutto and was removed from his post in the NAB due to pressure from her PPP party, is currently serving as Secretary to Punjab Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Khalid Maqbool.