ISLAMABAD: Amidst the ongoing unrest in the country, the government is all set to place administrative control of the premier counter-terrorism body under its newly established National Security Division (NSD) in an effort to stem the tide of violence.
Senior officials familiar with the development said yesterday that the counter-terrorism Rapid Deployment Force will also function along with the National Counter-Terrorism Authority (Nacta) under the NSD. It appears to be a major shift before the new national security policy is presented before parliament, they added.
Under the newly passed National Counter-Terrorism Authority Act 2013, the prime minister is the chairman of the Nacta board which falls under the administrative control of the ministry of interior.
The prime minister’s office will likely issue the notification in this regard, officials said. Nacta National Coordinator Amir Ashraf Khawaja neither confirmed nor denied this development, saying, “I’ll talk to you on a working day only.”
The prime minister’s press secretary, Mohiuddin Wani, also promised to confirm the development yesterday.
A senior official deputed at Nacta, however, claimed that a letter seeking placement of Nacta under the NSD has already been issued by the Prime Minister Secretariat. “We received a notification from the PM office on Friday [February 7],” he claimed.
Various stakeholders recommended that Nacta’s services be placed under the NSD since the government rechristened the cabinet committee on national security after changing its composition and tasked it with the formulation of a new national security policy.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan were also not happy with the performance of Nacta, officials said.
The country’s top counter-terrorism authority spent an estimated Rs850m in counterinsurgency efforts to battle violence and extremism but ended up producing only a brief documentary and a couple of research papers since its establishment five-and-half years ago, they added.
The notification for setting up the NSD under Sartaj Aziz, adviser to the prime minister on national security, has already been issued and Ambassador Sadiq Khan, who is currently serving in Afghanistan, will work as secretary to the NSD, officials said.
When approached, Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam Khan said it is yet to be decided where its office will be located - either at the interior ministry or Foreign Office. INTERNEWS
