ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Wednesday that threats to his life forced President Asif Ali Zardari to go to a Dubai hospital for treatment one week ago.

Speaking in the Senate, the prime minister said that the government and the president's family convinced Zardari to go to Dubai for the treatment because there was a risk he would be attacked if he had treatment in a Pakistani hospital.

“He (President Zardari) was ill, he feared life threats in Pakistan hospitals, that was the reason he did not want to go to any hospital of Pakistan,” the prime minister said in his address in the Senate.

Zardari's spokesman earlier said that the president will be discharged from the hospital on Thursday after spending more than a week there but will remain in the Gulf emirate to rest.

The 56-year-old Zardari flew to the United Arab Emirates last Tuesday after falling ill in the midst of a major scandal over alleged attempts by a close aide to seek US help to limit the power of Pakistan's military.

Zardari, who has a long-standing heart condition, was being treated at the American Hospital in Dubai.

He is facing a major scandal over the extent to which he was involved in any attempts to rein in the military.

“We persuaded him, we convinced him, his family convinced him to go to Dubai,” said Gilani.