QUETTA, March 21: Balochistan Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani said the other day that the government was considering various steps for ensuring protection of religious processions in congested areas.

Talking to newsmen after handing over the keys of the tuberculosis sanatorium building to the Sardar Bahadur Khan Women's University, he said the government was reviewing all aspects of the Quetta incident.

He said steps would be taken for improving the performance of the fire brigade, police and other law-enforcement agencies. "The Quetta attack was not a sectarian incident but a terrorist act," the governor said the people and influential personalities should play their role in maintaining peace and the spirit of brotherhood in the provincial capital.

"The government is considering to reduce the length of the route of the religious processions and provide them maximum security," he told a questioner. Responding to a question, he said the government was taking steps to prevent suicide attacks.

He said was no gulf between the sects and the government had constituted Jirgas to evolve a strategy for foiling the designs of anti-social elements. Asked about the arrest of the terrorists involved in the attack, he said investigation was under way and he was not in a position to say anything in this regard.

He said the federal government was fully cooperating with the province. Earlier, speaking at the ceremony, the governor said the university would play an important role in providing education facilities and developing leadership among the women in the province. He said Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali had granted Rs50 million and Chief Minister Jam Mohammed Yousuf, Rs30 million for the university.