London (PTI): Pakistan's ruling PPP's Presidential candidate Asif Ali Zardari, who inherited the party's leadership after the assassination of his wife Benazir Bhutto, has purged it of the former premier's close confidants, a media report has said.

Party stalwarts, whom Bhutto had relied upon are angry at the way her closest aides have been humiliated and alarmed that her political legacy is being betrayed, The Sunday Times said in a report.

They are also outraged that some of Zardari's aides have blamed Bhutto's most trusted advisers for her death, accusing them of failing to protect her from the assassins who killed her in a sniper and suicide bomb attack.

Naheed Khan, Bhutto's devoted political secretary and inseparable friend for more than 20 years has been the target of such accusations, they said.

Khan, who has been sidelined since the assassination, was sitting next to Bhutto in a bullet proof Land Cruiser when the leader was shot while waving to supporters through the sun-roof. Khan cradled Bhutto's head on her lap before realising she was dead.

Only four or five members of Bhutto's team have made the transition to Zardari's camp, said former agriculture minister and Bhutto adviser Nawab Yusuf Talpur.

"Most of the people trusted by Bibi are not trusted by him. Benazir had a vision and the capacity to hold this party together... Her legacy is not being handled in the way we expected," Talpur said.