Cabinet slams intelligence failure

Gillani unhappy over law, order situation

ISLAMABAD: Federal Cabinet on Wednesday lashed out at the intelligence agencies for "failing miserably" to find those responsible for a wave of violence including the Marriott Hotel bomb attack.

The rare rebuke came after a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani on the security situation in the country.

"The cabinet desired that stern action by the law-enforcing agencies must be taken as their intelligence agencies are failing miserably to lay hands on the perpetrators of abnormality in the country," the cabinet said in a statement.

While expressing dissatisfaction over the current law and order situation in the country, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani Wednesday directed the concerned authorities to ensure the safety of the property and life of people.

He urged for an effective strategy to deal with terrorist incidents in a more coordinated manner in order to provide an environment of peace and security to the people of Pakistan.

While discussing the law and order, the Prime Minister said that criminals do not have any ground to stand on therefore they must be pursued in the vigorously.

He said that the law of the jungle cannot be allowed to persist as we are deeply concerned about the life and property of the people of Pakistan.

"Today's Cabinet is haunted by the legacy of Marriott Hotel suicide bombing," the Prime Minister said as he mentioned the deadliest suicide attack at the Islamabad Hotel that took 53 innocent lives including the Czech Republic envoy and injured 266 others. 

The Prime Minister directed the concerned authorities to arrange in-camera briefing for the cabinet on the current scenario.

The Advisor for Interior Rehman Malik briefed the members about the actions taken by the government. He said that the Ministry of Interior is in close coordination with the provincial governments to ensure peace in FATA.

He said concerted efforts are underway with the assistance of Pakistan Army and other law enforcing agencies to bring the law and order situation under control. - AFP/APP