ISLAMABAD, Sept 6: Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Syed Khurshid Shah on Tuesday was unanimously elected as chairman of the National Assembly special committee on Karachi and Balochistan.

The PPP leader's name as the head of the 17-member special committee was proposed by Federal Minister for Railways Ghulam Ahmed Bilour of the Awami National Party (ANP) and supported by all the members present in the committee's maiden meeting presided over by National Assembly secretary Karamat Hussain Niazi.

Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza had constituted the special committee late last month in line with the motion adopted by the lower house of the parliament after a debate on the law and order situation in the country.

The committee has been mandated to look into the law and order situation in Karachi and Balochistan province and report back to the house with recommendations within two months.

After his election, Mr Shah assured the members of the all-party committee that he would endeavour to make the committee meaningful using the collective wisdom of all members.

Mr Shah, who has been engaged in negotiations with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) to bring the party back to the government-fold, said the committee had been assigned an important task and it would start its deliberations immediately so that it could submit its findings to the house within the stipulated two months.

Following a suggestion by some members, Mr Shah constituted a two-member sub-committee comprising Federal Minister for Professional and Technical Training Riaz Hussain Pirzada of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) and Zahid Hamid of the PML-N to finalise the terms of reference (ToRs) of the committee.