KARACHI, Oct 24: A lawyer of Pakistan People’s Party chairperson Benazir Bhutto has requested the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take suo motu notice of a letter threatening her and said she would not be deterred by such threats.

Talking to Dawn, Farooq H. Naek said she was determined to visit Lahore, Islamabad, Larkana and other places and lead the party’s rallies, despite media reports that she might address the gatherings by telephone.

About his letter addressed to Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Mr Naek said he had cited the Oct 18 carnage in Karachi and the threatening letter he had received in the Bar Room in Islamabad on Oct 23.

He said the letter, purported to have been written by a ‘friend of Al Qaeda’, was a serious and grave threat to Ms Bhutto’s life and it should not be taken lightly. Because of the serious nature of the threat, he said, the former prime minister had demanded inclusion of foreign experts in the inquiry into the Karachi blasts.

Mr Naek said the letter “implies a threat to my life and to Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto”.

He pointed out that Iqbal Raad, former advocate-general of Sindh and counsel for former prime minister Mian Nawaz Sharif in the hijacking case, had been assassinated by extremists in a violent manner.

Now that extremism and violence had surged manifold, he said, it was time for the state to come up with a comprehensive strategy for reining in terrorists and extremists.

He said it was the responsibility of the state to protect every citizen as required by the law and the constitution.

He demanded that his and Ms Bhutto’s constitutional rights to life and free movement should be upheld.

Mr Naek, urged the chief justice to order foolproof security for Ms Bhutto and him.

He also said that Ms Bhutto was not deterred by such threats and she had told him that she had returned to the country so that democracy could be restored. She was committed to economic and social uplift and change without any gender discrimination.

Our Staff Reporter in Islamabad adds: In his letter, Senator Naek told the chief justice that National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Deputy Prosecutor-General Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta handed him over two letters at accountability courts on Oct 23, one which contained a handwritten two-page note written by ‘Head of suicide bomber and friend of Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda’.

“The body of the said letter contained derogatory and threatening remarks against Ms Bhutto. Great emphasis was laid on the assassination of Ms Bhutto through a knife which according to the writer could be found at any place viz bullet-proof car, bedroom etc. and the killing would be done by the knife by someone Ms Bhutto cannot even suspect, which includes a woman commando,” he stated.