Ghinwa, who heads the Shaheed Bhutto faction of the Pakistan People's Party, was married to Mir Murtaza, Bhutto's brother who was shot dead in mysterious circumstances when she was the prime minister.

"Bilawal is a Zardari and not a Bhutto. The public would never accept Bilawal as a Bhutto and time would decide whether the decision to make him PPP chairman was right or wrong," Ghinwa told The Post.

Ghinwa, who is of Lebanese origin, described the relationship between her and Bhutto as "not good" and said there had been no attempts at reconciliation.

She said both families should "forget the differences" following Bhutto's death. She said that people were even saying that Murtaza's family should lead the PPP.

Zulfiqar Junior, Ghinwa's 17-year-old son, met his cousin Bilawal after a gap of 10 years at Bhutto's funeral. Zulfiqar has met Bilawal only four times in his life.

At Bhutto's funeral, the cousins shared each other's sorrow and discussed nothing, Zulfikar told reporters. He also said Bilawal was actually a Zardari and not a Bhutto.