ISLAMABAD, Aug 5: Instead of withdrawing its July 26 notification which had placed the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) under the direct control of the interior division, the federal government decided on Tuesday to hold it ‘in abeyance till further deliberations’.

“The prime minister is pleased to direct that the federal government will carry out further deliberations on coordinating the intelligence efforts. Till the completion of these deliberations, the Cabinet Division’s memorandum of even number, dated July 26, 2008, is held in abeyance,” says an official announcement called ‘Memorandum’ issued by the Cabinet Secretariat.

The memorandum was issued after midnight when PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and Law Minister Farooq Naek were still at the Prime Minister’s House after the PPP leaders’ talks with PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif on the future of the coalition government.

The government had on July 26 issued a notification placing two premier intelligence organisations — ISI and Intelligence Bureau (IB) — under the “administrative, financial and operational control of the interior division” to enhance coordination between them and rein in their ‘powerful’ set-ups. The notification was issued at a time when Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was on an official visit to the US.

In a highly embarrassing move, the government reversed the decision in less than 24 hours amid ‘extreme tension’ between various sections of the government and the establishment and after intense back-channel efforts.

The government issued a statement saying the earlier notification was ‘misunderstood’ and the ISI would continue to function under the prime minister. It said: “The said notification (issued on Saturday) only re-emphasises more coordination between the ministry of interior and the ISI in relation to war on terror and internal security.”