ISLAMABAD, June 16: The government on Wednesday claimed that unprecedented security measures were taken in and around the Parliament House in view of terrorist threats while the opposition protested the presence of soldiers there.

"The army has taken over the Parliament House," said MNA Liaquat Baloch on the floor of the National Assembly while pointing out the presence of army commandos in the Parliament House.

Liaquat Baloch, MNA of Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), said the speaker of the National Assembly and Senate chairman, as custodians of the parliament, should take notice of the presence of uniformed officials with guns on the premises of the Parliament House.

After Mehmood Khan Achakzai of Pakhtoonkhwa Qaumi Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) said the presence of armed commandos in the galleries was an insult to the parliament, the opposition parties staged a token walkout to register their protest.

Replying to the points raised by the opposition, the deputy speaker of the National Assembly, Sardar Mohammad Yaqoob, observed that whenever the president arrived in the Parliament House, special security measures were necessitated.

As the proceedings continued in the absence of the opposition, parliamentary secretary for finance Umer Ayub also tried to justify the security steps and said they were necessitated in view of the security threat faced by the president.

He said the two assassination attempts on the life of the president were enough to ensure adequate security measures for him. However, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed later informed the House that security measures were not taken for the president who was present in the Parliament House on Wednesday in his commando uniform.

"The assembly received a serious security threat. These arrangements have no relation with the security of the president," he said. Mr Ahmed said the security measures were taken for the protection of the legislators in view of security threats.

However, the information minister did not elaborate on the kind and level of security threat faced by the parliament. On Wednesday the entrance of the Parliament House was blocked by barricades.

Army soldiers carrying guns and security personnel in plain clothes were stationed at various places in the Parliament House as security cameras scanned various corridors.

Parliamentary leader of the People's Party Parliamentarians in the Senate Raza Rabbani told journalists in the cafeteria that the move was ominous as whenever elected presidents had visited the Parliament House to address a joint sitting, they had used the speaker's chamber.

Senator Rabbani said the ARD and Democratic Alliance in Senate had already on a number of occasions expressed serious concerns that Gen Musharraf was taking the country towards the presidential form of governance.

The opposition members appeared concerned about the president's appearance in the Parliament House in his commando uniform and they also looked equally appalled at the way the president was seen to be taking sides by meeting the treasury members in his chamber as if signalling to everyone in and outside the country that he was now the effective leader of the ruling alliance.

However, MNAs from the treasury benches supported the presence of Gen Musharraf in his parliamentary chambers and said it was a healthy sign for democracy as constitutionally president was part of the parliament.