KARACHI, May 28: President Asif Ali Zardari has stressed the need for enhanced intelligence gathering with improved coordination among various agencies and called for constituting a task force of all relevant agencies to pre-empt any untoward incident.

Presiding over a meeting on law and order at Bilawal House on Monday, he called for devising a mechanism for according prior permission to hold public rallies and for deciding whether some specific areas should be declared off limit for political gatherings.

This was the second meeting on Karachi’s law and order that the president has held since his return from Chicago.

Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan, Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, provincial ministers, the chief secretary, inspector general of police and other senior officials attended the meeting.

Mr Zardari emphasised that in dealing with criminals it must be ensured that innocent civilians were not affected.

The law-enforcement and intelligence agencies gave a briefing to the president on the attack on a bus in Nawabshah, firing on a rally in Karachi, murder of Muzaffar Bhutto and overall law and order in Sindh.

The president was perturbed by recurrence of violence in Karachi and expressed deep concern over inability of the law-enforcement agencies to quell it.

He also expressed concern over the killing of seven bus passengers in the Nawabshah incident.