LAHORE, March 6: US Secretary of State Collin Powell's scheduled visit to Islamabad is a routine matter and nothing special is going to happen, says Interior Minister Faisal Hayat.

He was talking to reporters at ARD deputy information secretary Munir Ahmad Khan's residence on Saturday where he had gone to condole with Mr Khan on his father's death.

He, however, said the regional situation, especially the Afghan issue, would be discussed with Mr Powell because instability in Kabul had deep repercussions for Islamabad.

"We are urging Britain and the United States to multiply their forces in Afghanistan otherwise extremists will continue to find safe havens there."

Answering a question, Mr Hayat said preliminary reports suggested that personal enmity was the cause behind PPP MPA's killing in Karachi on Saturday (March 6).

However, security agencies have been directed to thoroughly probe the incident, he said.

Replying to a volley of questions on the Quetta carnage, the interior minister said those killed involved people from Shia and other sects. He did not rule out the involvement of Al Qaeda in the killing.

"Though it is pre-mature to name Al Qaeda, there are certain desperate elements who are fighting for their survival and this kind of act promotes their philosophy."

Mr Hayat said he had received certain reports regarding the accused and the lapses on the part of security agencies. But, he said, he would wait until the three commissions probing the incident complete their inquiries so that no institution could complain that it was not given a chance to present its case.

He did not agree with the assertion that security agencies had failed to perform their duties due to which such incidents were taking place in the country.

He claimed that the agencies had thwarted many plans in the past but they were not made public.

"Suicide attacks are, however, a new phenomena and a policy is being chalked out to tackle such situations."