PESHAWAR, March 6: The NWFP government relieved on Saturday eight additional and deputy advocates-general of their duty and appointed 10 new law officers, all belonging to Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Fazl) and Jamaat-i-Islami.

It is learnt that except for the NWFP advocate-general, Barrister Jehanzeb Raheem, all the law officers in the advocate-general's office have now been replaced.

Provincial law minister Malik Zafar Azam belongs to the JUI-F and nine of the newly-appointed additional and deputy advocates-general are believed to be affiliated with the party. The tenth officer belongs to JI.

Three notifications were issued by the provincial law secretary Amir Gulab Khan, whereby eight officers were relieved and five additional and five deputy advocates-general were appointed.

Through one of the notifications, the government has dispensed with the services of the three additional and five deputy advocates-general. They are: additional advocates-general Imtiaz Ali, Ms Mussarat Hilali and Sardar Shoukat Hayat; and deputy advocates-general Tariq Jawed, Malik Ahmad Jan, Akhter Naveed, Mohammad Ayub and Shaukat Hayat Khakwani. Ms Hillali was the lone woman law officer in the province.

The newly-appointed additional advocates-general are: Pir Liaquat Ali Shah (Bannu), Ubaidullah Anwar (Peshawar), Arbab Mohammad Usman (Peshawar), Mohammad Saeed (Shangla) and Najam Khan (Swabi). Except for Arbab Usman, the four officers belong to the JUI-F.

The five new deputy advocates-general are: Faridullah Shaal (Lower Dir), Mohammad Ayaz Khan (Swabi), Nazar Ahmad (Mardan), Chaudhry Sharif Ahmed (DI Khan) and Qari Abdur Rashid (Mansehra).

The relieved officers were appointed before the Oct 2002 general elections.

Ever since the formation of the provincial government by the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal in Dec 2003, the government has been under pressure from lawyers' organisations affiliated with the two component parties of the MMA, the JUI-F and the JI, to appoint lawyers belonging to parties in the MMA on these posts.