PESHAWAR, Aug 17: The Privileges Committee of the NWFP Assembly has recommended the issuance of an arrest warrant against the provincial Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Sardar Mohammad Idrees, over refusal to appear before it despite several notices.

The recommendation was made at a meeting held last week after the minister failed to appear before the committee that was deliberating over a privilege motion moved by MPA Dr Zakirullah Khan, sources told Dawn.

The sources said the privilege motion was unanimously referred to the committee by the House. The committee reviewed the motion and asked the minister to clarify his position, but there was no response from him.

Two more notices were served on the minister that also remained unanswered. The sources said the committee ultimately recommended to the Assembly Secretariat to issue an arrest warrant for the minister.

When contacted MPA Muzaffar Saeed, the chairman of the committee, confirmed that the body had called for the issuance of a warrant. He, however, did not provide the details.

An official at the Provincial Assembly too confirmed that the committee had recommended the issuance of an arrest warrant but said no action had been taken yet because people were looking for a non-controversial way out of the crisis.

When contacted, Sardar Idrees explained that the privilege motion moved against him pertained to the appointment of those officials as Tehsil Municipal Officers who were not staffers of the Local Council Board.

He claimed that the problem had already been resolved after which the privilege motion had become redundant.