Islamabad: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 on Saturday.

Mehsud plans to target the opposition PML-N chief Sharif and Punjab provinces Chief Minister Shahbaz, sources in law enforcement agencies investigating the recent suicide attack on the residence of PML-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 Punjabs 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 PML-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 Punjabs 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 Pakistans 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 armys elite Special Services Group (SSG) to provide security to them.

Source : DNA