Islamabad, April 14, (IRNA) A Pakistani woman minister said on Saturday she fears for life after a photograph was published in local newspapers showing her hugging a foreign man.

Pakistani newspapers carried a photograph this month showing Minister of Tourism Nilofar Bakhtiar hugging a man, apparently her para-jumping instructor, after completing a jump in France Clerics of Islamabad central mosque issued a decree earlier this month calling on the government to remove the woman minister.

"Now I fear for my life," Nilofar Bakhtiar told the Senate Standing Committee on Tourism.

The minister said she risked her life by jumping from a height of over 8,000-feet for a noble cause.

She said she was hurt at the way her paragliding jump in France was sensationalized and some elements indulged in her character assassination.

"I had made a commitment to paraglide for the earthquake victims when I was not a federal minister to raise funds for the construction of 15 schools in the quake affected areas," she said.

"I have strengthened my security after fatwa from the so-called Shariat court and killing of Punjab provincial Minister Zil-e-Humma." Zile-e-Huma was shot dead in the city of Gujranwala in February by an armed man as he thought that women should not be in politics.

Nilofar said that former UN secretary general Kofi Annan also jumped to raise donations for tsunami victims on the request of the same French paragliding team with whom she had jumped in France.

"French media praised my daring attempt but unfortunately some irresponsible elements here presented this noble cause in a malicious manner," she added.

The minister said the caption given to the picture was totally out of context.

"The instructor is a senior and respectable French citizen who appreciated me for my successful attempt," she added.