ISLAMABAD, June 30: Federal Finance Minister and prime minister in-waiting Shaukat Aziz has said he is a Sunni Muslim and believes that Muhammad (PBUH) is the last of the prophets.

He was replying to a reporter, who referred to rumours suggesting that he (Aziz) belonged to a minority community, at a joint news conference on Wednesday. Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and Sindh Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim were also present on the occasion.

Shaukat Aziz said Prime Minister Shujaat Husain on Wednesday morning signed the summary for the implementation of the finance bill 2004-05 that was later approved by President Gen Pervez Musharraf.

All formalities, he said, had been completed and the bill would become effective from July 1, he added. Asked if he would like to be addressed as senior minister or federal finance minis-ter, Mr Aziz said: "It is up to you." Sheikh Rashid Ahmad declined to comment when asked whether Defence Minister Rao Sikandar Iqbal and Shaukat Aziz were both senior ministers in the cabinet.