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 parachute-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," Bakhtiar told the Senate Standing Committee on Tourism, according to the private News Network International news agency.

The minister said she had risked her life by jumping from a height of over 8,000-feet (2,400 meters) for a noble cause.

Nilofar said that former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan also jumped to raise donation 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.