ISLAMABAD, Sept 8: Pakistan will raise the capacity of its law enforcement agencies and personnel through the infusion of fresh resources in an effort to curb terrorism and extremism in the country, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said here on Thursday.

The prime minister was speaking at a meeting of the National Security Council.

The meeting, presided over by President Gen Pervez Musharraf, called for further tough measures to deal with terrorism and extremism, informed sources said.

The prime minister told NSC members that the performance of police and other security agencies was being improved so as to enable them to complete the tasks assigned to them.

Leader of the Opposition, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, and NWFP Chief Minister Akram Durrani did not attend the NSC meeting.

President Musharraf told the meeting that “relentless and sustained efforts” would continue at all levels till the country was rid of “the scourge of terrorism, extremism and sectarianism”.

Pointing out that terrorism was born out of extremism, the president said both short- and long- term measures were needed to check “extremist tendencies”.

Among the short-term measures cited were the banning of militant organizations (and not allowing them to operate under different names), action against publications spreading hate and discouraging misuse of loudspeakers in worship places. The long-term measures included madressah reforms, improvement of syllabi and the need for a national and international discourse.

The president said that Pakistan, being an ideological Islamic state, was eminently qualified to lead the way by projecting the true spirit of “our great religion”.

Underscoring the need for addressing the root causes of terrorism, he said the fight against this menace could not be won without tackling unresolved political disputes, including Palestine and Kashmir, in a just manner.

The president and prime minister stressed on the need for implementing wide-ranging reforms in all facets in order to meet the challenges of the times. These reforms should be aimed at attaining self-emancipation through the promotion of knowledge and progress. They highlighted the need to promote tolerance and respect for diverse points of view, so that the position of the vast majority of moderates could be strengthened in the country.

The two leaders praised the performance of security personnel in the campaign against terrorism. They reiterated the government’s resolve to push ahead with the campaign till it bore fruit.

The participants of the meeting were briefed in detail by the Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao on internal security imperatives with particular focus on the strategy to eliminate terrorism, sectarianism and extremism from the country.

Mr Sherpao spelled out the initiatives taken by the government in line with the president’s policy of using a multi-pronged strategy to deal forcefully with terrorism and introduce a more extensive plan to bring about change in society and deny extremists a place within civil society.

Since October 1999 “the reform of society continues to remain a top priority of the government and major strides have been made to root out extremism, militancy and sectarianism”, the minister said.

These steps included the outlawing of militant organisations, banning the display of weapons, promulgation of the anti-terrorist act, setting up of counter terrorism structures, creation of an intelligence coordination committee and the formulation of a comprehensive anti-terrorism strategy.

He said that standard operating procedures on monitoring banned organizations, protecting foreigners, dealing with suicide attacks, capacity building of criminal investigation and regulation of madaris were also in place and being implemented.

Mr Sherpao also briefed the participants about certain other measures indirectly contributing towards elimination of terrorism such as immigration control measures, automated finger-printing system, police reforms, Nadra and machine readable passports.

He stated that the campaign against extremism, sectarianism and terrorism had received fresh impetus following the president’s directives to police officers on 5th July 2005 and his address to the nation on 21st July 2005.

He provided an update on the steps being taken against banned organizations, printing, publication and distribution of hate literature, collection of funds and misuse of loud speakers in mosques and places of worship and the progress made in this regard.