ISLAMABAD, Feb 1: The government has expressed ignorance about the reported death of alleged top Al Qaeda operative Abu Laith Al Libi in an attack in North Waziristan on Monday.

“The government has no information to confirm reports that a top Al Qaeda operative has been killed,” caretaker Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz Khan said on Friday while talking to mediapersons at the National Database and Registration Authority headquarters.

He said the place of explosion had been cleared by militants when security personnel reached there. “We cannot confirm Al Libi’s death because the militants had removed bodies from the site where the explosion happened and the security personnel did not find any corpse.”

The minister said the situation in the troubled areas was improving and most parts of Darra Adamkhel had been cleared of militants.

He said the government would ensure security of the candidates and voters during the election. “It is the responsibility of the people and political parties to cooperate with the government for peaceful conduct of the election,” he said.

He said acquisition of equipment for detection of suicide bombers and explosives was under way. He said the Scotland Yard team assisting the investigation into the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto would return to the country soon.

Responding to a question about Supreme Court Bar Association president Aitzaz Ahsan, the minister said: “His detention had been ordered by the provincial government and not by the federal government.”

AFP adds: Military spokesman Maj-Gen Athar Abbas said it was impossible to confirm or refute if the Al Qaeda operative was among those killed as the bodies had been buried.

“Our position is that who fired, who ordered, who removed the bodies etc is not known to us,” he said. “We cannot negate nor confirm because the moment it happened, they removed the bodies and buried them. So, how would anybody confirm who got killed?” he added.