Senior Pakistan People's Party leader Syed Talib Husain Shah was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Gujrat district of Punjab province, police officials said on Wednesday.

Shah, 70, was the vice-president of the PPP chapter in Gujrat, 125 km from Punjab capital Lahore.

He was a close aide of federal Power Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar and a four-time member of the Gujrat district council.

He was at a brick kiln owned by a friend when four gunmen riding a car came to the spot yesterday evening and fired at him.

Shah was critically injured and was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries, police officials said.

Shah had been an active in politics for the past four decades and remained loyal to the PPP.

His family blamed the attack on political rivalry and said Shah had no personal enmity with anyone.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf expressed grief at the incident and directed police to arrest the killers.