4, April 2005	Monday	24 Safar 1426

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GILGIT, April 3: Law-enforcement personnel continued the search for illegal weapons here and seized about 100 firearms, Northern Areas Chief Secretary Manzoor Nadeem said on Sunday.

Speaking at a press conference, he said three people had been detained. He said efforts were being made to de-weaponize the city as a handful of people had taken the peaceful population hostage.

Answering a question, he said the operation would continue till the menace of illicit weapons was eradicated.

Northern Areas police chief Sarmad Saeed Khan said a foreign-trained special team was investigating the murder of a former IG. He said those involved in the Ziauddin murder case had also been identified and they would soon be brought to book.

APP adds: Minister for Northern Areas and Kashmir Affairs Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat told BBC radio: “A strategy has been devised to purge the (Northern) Areas of illegal weapons.”

He said the local administration had been given a free hand to restore lasting peace in Gilgit. He said some miscreants

had been arrested and initial results of the campaign were positive.

He said all the entry points of the region had been blocked to check supply of illegal weapons. Durable peace could not be achieved without eradicating the root causes, he said.