Mai told AFP that her decision was in protest at a move to replace her with a woman from the ruling party at the crisis centre in her village of Mirwala in Punjab province.

"The entire administration of the centre was changed when I was visiting the United States early this month," said Mai, adding she has sent her resignation to President Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and the ministry.

She alleged the move was carried out to embezzle millions of rupees deposited at the centre.

A local official dismissed the allegations, saying Mai was nearing the end of her one-year term and had to be replaced.

Mai was raped on the orders of a tribal council in Pakistan in 2002 as punishment for her brother's alleged affair with a woman from another tribe.

But rather than accept the ruling, as normally happens in Pakistan, she launched a legal battle in a conventional court which convicted six men involved.

Mai used her compensation money to build the first of two schools in her village and now campaigns for women's rights around the world.