KARACHI, Nov 1: Noted social worker and writer Mumtaz Rashidi, wife of the late Pir Ali Mohammad Rashdi, died of heart failure here on Monday evening. She was 70.

Ms Rashidi, who was scheduled to undergo surgery on Nov 9, is survived by two children: son Adil Rashidi and daughter Anadil Rashidi.

She will be buried in the Sindhi Muslim Jamaat graveyard near Mewashah after Fajr prayers on Tuesday. Her Soyem will be held between Asr and Maghrib prayers on Wednesday at B-95, 16th South Central Street, Phase II, Defence.

Born on March 8, 1934 in Kolkata, Ms Rashidi took a Master's degree from the Dhaka University. A grandniece of Sher- i-Bengal A.K. Fazalul Haq, she became Pakistan's first woman press attache in 1954 and got posted in Paris. It was there that she met then Pakistan's central information minister Pir Ali Mohammad Rashidi whom she married in 1955.

Mr Rashidi's ambassadorial assignments took her to the Philippines in 1956 - where her children were born - and to China where she struck up a close rapport with key Chinese leaders. They came back to Pakistan in 1965 after a two-year stay in Hong Kong following Mr Rashidi's resignation from government service.

Ms Rashidi became involved in many social welfare projects for the people of Sindh, especially those living in Upper Sindh and near Manchar Lake. She also worked in close collaboration with international welfare organizations. She was the longest- serving member of the syndicate of the agriculture university in Tandojam. She was also a member of the National Commission on the Status of Women.

Ms Rashidi wrote regularly for various newspapers, including Dawn, Morning News and The Sun. She also wrote a book, titled Sindh aur nigah-i-qadarshanas, on the social issues of Sindh.