Pakistan’s civilian and military law enforcement agencies engaged in counter-terrorism efforts have decided to create a consolidated databank on terrorists, according to a media report on Sunday.
The issue was discussed at a recent meeting of civilian and military law enforcement agencies, which agreed to rope in the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) to create and maintain the databank.
It emerged at the meeting that government departments at the national and provincial levels were maintaining data on terrorists for their own use and the information was fragmented in the absence of a central authority, the ‘Dawn’ newspaper quoted its sources as saying.
It becomes ‘very difficult’ to check the identity of a suicide bomber or terrorist on a speedy basis irrespective of whether he or she is a Pakistani or a foreigner, the sources said.
This is a common problem faced by law enforcement agencies. The meeting unanimously approved a proposal for managing consolidated data on terrorists on modern lines under a central authority.
The function may be performed by the National Counter-Terrorism Authority (NACTA), the report said. Under the plan, NADRA will have separate databanks on Pakistanis and foreigners suspected or found involved in terrorist activities.
The meeting also recommended the reactivation of NACTA on an urgent basis with adequate funding to implement its strategy. The NACTA Ordinance introduced in 2009 is yet to be tabled in parliament, pending approval by the cabinet.
Former Federal Investigation Agency chief Tariq Parvaiz was appointed the first chairman of NACTA but he resigned after seeing no progress on the ordinance for over a year. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani decided at a meeting held on July 5 last year after the bombing of the Data Darbar shrine in Lahore that NACTA would be reactivated.
The authority is to act as a research organisation and the European Union had pledged 15 million Euros for it. The law enforcement agencies also called for building consensus among stakeholders to make stringent laws on terrorism and discussed the creation of a special anti-terrorism force.