RAWALPINDI, Feb 24: The government has taken back 10 out of the 22 cars given to the Islamabad police for security duty during the Saarc Summit, official sources told Dawn.

The sources said six out of the 10 cars had been included in President General Pervez Musharraf's motorcade, while four had been reserved for Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali.

The source said the Islamabad Capital Territory police had also been directed to select 10 best drivers to drive the six police cars of the president's high-speed motorcade.

However, no such request has been made for the prime minister's motorcade. The ICT police, already facing shortage of drivers, have sought permission from the interior ministry to recruit 90 drivers. The ministry has also been told that the police would spare ten best drivers out of the 90, if allowed to make fresh recruitments.

The need to spare six police cars for president's motorcade was felt after December 25 suicide attacks on President Musharraf's convoy in which two of the cars of the VVIP motorcade were destroyed.

The source said, a three-member team comprising one joint secretary and one deputy secretary of the interior ministry and the Superintendent Police Headquarters, Islamabad, had been assigned the duty to select six smart, educated and trained drivers by February 25.