PESHAWAR, Aug 29: Contrary to public statement, the NWFP government has not ordered any inquiry into the Aug 14 shootout between Al-Qaeda suspects and law enforcement agencies in Hayatabad, Peshawar, investigations by Dawn revealed.

The NWFP Minister for Information, Asif Iqbal, had told a news briefing following a cabinet meeting on Aug 17 that the provincial government had ordered an inquiry into the episode.

The gun battle between Al Qaeda suspects and Criminal Investigation Department police took place in the posh residential township on Independence Day.

“Inquiry has been ordered and the home department has been asked to submit its report as soon as possible,” the minister had told the news briefing.

The MMA government that comprises six religious parties is on record having asked the federal government time and again to take it into confidence before conducting any operation against Al Qaeda.

Knowledgeable sources say this had happened only once but the intelligence agencies involved in the hunt for Al Qaeda chose not to inform the provincial government before carrying out any operation.

Scores of Al Qaeda suspects have been rounded up in the NWFP and adjoining tribal areas and sent to Guantanamo Bay after putting them through preliminary interrogation by the ISI and FBI officials.

Dawn’s investigation revealed that while there was resentment within the MMA government and hierarchy and its leadership made no secret about their aversion to the US-led hunt for Islamic radicals, no formal inquiry was ordered to ascertain the facts behind the Hayatabad shootout.

Senator Prof Muhammad Ibrahim, a senior Jamaat-i-Islami leader, has already moved a motion in the upper house of parliament to discuss the incident in which a Libyan national was killed while another, said to be an Egyptian, who carries a bounty on his head from the United States, escaped.

Background interviews with senior members of the Durrani government showed that the provincial government was particularly unhappy over the fact the ISI had used CID — a provincial law enforcement outfit — in the operation without its knowledge and prior information.

A senior government official acknowledged that there had been some discussions on streamlining the affairs regarding any future operation against Al Qaeda, no formal inquiry had been ordered. But as one official joked: “There could be a stream but no line.”

“There was no formal notification nor was an inquiry officer appointed to deal with the matter,” said another official.

Officials say that while there were discussions on the handling of the Hayatabad operation within the police department and the circumstances in which a suspected Al Qaeda operative managed to escape, no formal inquiry was made.

Officials in the home department deny they have been asked to conduct any probe into the Hayatabad incident. “We can inform the chief minister only if we are privy to any such information. In the instant case, there was no information available with us to share with the government,” one official said.

Police officials on their part have taken the plea that under the rules they are not required to seek prior approval of the chief minister or for that matter the provincial government ahead of any action against outlaws and terrorists.

“We are not required to seek prior approval or inform the provincial government if there is a criminal or a terrorist to be dealt with,” a police official said.

A senior official with knowledge of the goings-on regarding the Hayatabad shootout confided that the chief minister had asked the Inspector General of Police, Riffat Pasha, to explain why he was not taken into confidence before he had ordered the CID to conduct the operation.

“The IGP argued and quoted rules that he was not required to seek prior approval of the government to order the CID to conduct the operation. There were armed people there; the police was required to disarm them. They were given an opportunity to surrender but they lobbed hand-grenades at us, instead. We had to retaliate,” the official quoted Pasha as saying.

“How can we police and restore order if a constable too starts seeking prior approval before taking any action against a criminal,” the official said.

An official in the CID said the operation was carried out with the prior approval and order of the IGP. Mr Pasha declined to comment on the story but said that everything was done in accordance with the law.

It is pertinent to mention here that the federal government had brought an amendment in section 131 (A) of the Code of Criminal Procedure in October last whereby it may on its own direct any officer of the armed forces or civil armed forces to render assistance for public security and maintenance of law and order.