Sharif brothers on 'hit list' of Pak Taliban chief: Report

Islamabad, Oct 11 (PTI) Former premier Nawaz Sharif and
his brother Shahbaz are on the 'hit list' of Pakistani Taliban
chief Baitullah Mehsud, who is also accused of masterminding
assassination of Benazir Bhutto, a media report claimed
Saturday.

Mehsud plans to target the opposition Pakistan Muslim
League (Nawaz) chief Sharif and Punjab province's Chief
Minister Shahbaz, sources in law enforcement agencies
investigating the recent suicide attack on the residence of
P.M.L.-N. parliamentarian Rashid Akbar Nawani in Bhakkar told
'The News' daily.

The militant commander recently dispatched one of his
close aides and a hardcore Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan operative
to the eastern city of Lahore, where the Sharif brothers live,
to closely monitor their movements, the sources were quoted as
saying.

Security agencies have informed the federal Interior
Ministry and Punjab's home department that the man sent to
Lahore by Mehsud is Maulvi Ubaidullah and he remained in the
capital of Punjab province for almost two weeks in July, the
report said.

During his stay in Lahore, Ubaidullah reportedly
monitored routes frequently used by the Sharif brothers,
particularly the road that leads to their plush farmhouse
residence at Raiwind.

Authorities said though the threat to the Sharif brothers
is serious, it was confusing for many in the security agencies
who believe the P.M.L.-N. leaders and Mehsud are "not
ideologically poles apart to such an extent that the Taliban
chief would think of eliminating them," according to the
report.

The sources said the Sharif brothers have repeatedly
claimed that they were not taken into confidence by the
government before a military operation was launched against
the Taliban in the tribal areas.

The "public stance of the Sharif brothers is
comparatively soft on al-Qaeda and the Taliban" when compared
to the stand of other mainstream political parties, the
sources said.

The intelligence passed on the Interior Ministry and
Punjab's Home Department states that Mehsud might muster the
logistical and technical support of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
terror group to plan an attack on the Sharif brothers.

The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi had blown up a part of the Raiwind
road in Lahore in 1998 in a bid to target the motorcade of
then prime minister Nawaz Sharif. While the blast killed three
persons, Sharif escaped unhurt as he had left the spot much
before the explosion occurred.

A number of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi activists were subsequently
arrested and many others killed in gun battles with police.

The security agencies do not rule out the possibility of
a collaboration between the Pakistani Taliban and the
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi to target the Sharifs, especially at a time
when the Taliban have turned their guns on Pakistan's
political leadership.

Due to the perceived threats to the lives of the Sharif
brothers, the Punjab government has reportedly decided to hire
over a dozen retired personnel of the army's elite Special
Services Group (S.S.G.) to provide security to them.