ISLAMABAD, Jan 1: The government plans to set up an authority to bring all intelligence agencies under a single umbrella, Dawn has learnt.

According to a source in the interior ministry, Tariq Pervez who retired as director general of the Federal Investigation Agency two days ago, has been reappointed on a contract basis.

He will head the National Counter Terrorism Authority. A post of coordinator has been created and a notification to the effect has been issued.

The authority will work as a statuary body for information-sharing among all military and civil intelligence agencies to effectively handle the menace of extremism and terrorism.

A summary for establishing the authority has been sent to the prime minister for approval and its notification may be issued soon.

At present, the FIA, Inter-Services Intelligence and Intelligence Bureau are involved in countering terrorism. Officials say the need for a single task force was felt because lack of coordination among the three agencies has hampered efforts to prevent terrorist acts.

Besides, the agencies also perform other tasks, making it difficult for them to devote themselves fully to task of countering terrorism. The proposed authority will have research and analysis, terrorism evaluation and implementation wings.

“There are also a number of intelligence agencies, like Special Branch and Crime Investigation Departments, working under the provincial governments and they always remain out of the loop in terms of information-sharing. We also want information from the provincial agencies,” the source said.