November 14, 2007	Wednesday	Ziqa’ad 03, 1428

ISLAMABAD, Nov 13: The government is planning to launch a massive operation against militants in Swat, a senior official told Dawn on Tuesday.

He said that before launching the operation, the military authorities would apprise the media of the ground situation in the district.

Meanwhile, Interior Ministry spokesman Brig (retd) Javed Iqbal Cheema said in a press briefing on Tuesday that the NWFP government had requisitioned the army to help maintain law and order in Swat.

“Now, Frontier Corps, Frontier Constabulary and police would work under the army and steps would be taken in concert with the provincial and district administration to bring the intolerable state of affairs to an end and establish the government writ,” he added.

He said the army had been in Swat since July, but for some unknown reasons the previous provincial government did not seek its help. He said that under the rules, the army could not act unless it was requisitioned.

The spokesman said the Frontier Corps and Rangers had been assigned an anti-smuggling task and on Monday FC personnel confiscated over 764,000kg of flour which was being smuggled to Afghanistan. He said that actions would also be taken against the smugglers to stabilise prices of flour in the country.

Responding to a question, he said there were reasons to believe that some of those released in the Lal Masjid case were involved in the Swat crisis.

He said an amendment had been made to the Army Act and people involved in terrorist activities against the armed forces would be tried under it.

PPP LONG MARCH: About government’s decision to stop Pakistan People’s Party chairperson Benazir Bhutto from leading a long march from Lahore to Islamabad, the spokesman said there was credible intelligence that terrorist groups and other extremist elements were out to attack Ms Bhutto. “There is real threat to her life and the government is taking exceptional security measures to ward off threat and ensure her safety,” he added.

Mr Cheema said the government was constantly advising Ms Bhutto against long public exposure.

Referring to her seven-day detention and measures taken to prevent the long march, he said the government had the option of allowing her to proceed on her own risk. “The government opted for the second option as it cannot absolve itself of the primary responsibility of ensuring security of its citizens,” he said.

The spokesman said the terrorist threat was real because the president, the prime minister and interior and political affairs ministers had also been targeted.

He said the law and order situation remained within acceptable limits and about 3,000 people, including activists and lawyers, had so far been arrested, adding that they would be released soon.