ISLAMABAD, Jan 27: The government has decided to lift curfew in Gilgit within a few days, Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat told Dawn on Thursday.

The minister said the curfew had already been relaxed in the day time and now it was being imposed from 6pm to 6am. The government had decided to lift the curfew in view of the regional situation which was heading towards normalcy, the minister said.

In reply to a question, the minister said the army would remain in Gilgit till Muharram to avoid any untoward incident in the area. He said the government had paid Rs300,000 compensation each to the legal heirs of the people killed in Gilgit. Family members of the dead would be given jobs in government departments.

Mr Hayat said separate inquiries had been conducted into the killing of Agha Ziauddin and negligence of the Gilgit administration which had failed to tackle the situation after an attack on a Shia leader

"Action would be taken against the officials found involved in the negligence of their duty," he said and added that several suspects had been arrested in connection with the killing of Agha Ziauddin.

Mr Hayat said he had taken a serious note of the absence of public representatives and government officials in the Northern Areas and had issued an order that without obtaining his approval no government official could leave the area.