Quoting an unidentified investigator associated with the Joint Investigation Team probing Bhatti's murder, The Express Tribune reported Aug. 9 that "Shahbaz's murder is said to be linked to a 'chronic rivalry' with relatives who lived in Faisalabad five years ago."

The report also quoted the official as saying that while the culprits have not been named, "we will approach Interpol for their arrest."

"The mindset behind such propaganda is very disturbing," said Paul Bhatti, a doctor and eldest of the five Bhatti brothers.

He said he discussed the report Aug. 13 with the head of the Joint Investigation Team.

"The officer told me that this (allegation) is nonsense. They are even investigating into the source of such a report," Bhatti said.

If it is true that the murder was due to family feud, he reasoned, "the investigators could have easily arrested the culprits immediately."

Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan's former minister of minority affairs, became a target of Islamic extremists after he expressed support for Asia Bibi, a Christian mother of five sentenced to death for blasphemy.

Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab province who joined Shahbaz Bhatti in a clemency petition for Bibi, was assassinated Jan. 4.

Bishop Joseph Coutts, president of Pakistan Catholic Bishops' Conference, told CNS Aug. 13 that the family feud theory was "news to us."

"Nothing happens with investigations here (in Pakistan)," added Bishop Coutts.

In an Aug. 9 statement, the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance said, "Facts are being distorted to protect the real culprits, and the case was deliberately being diverted toward personal enmities which are absolutely baseless."