'Bannu jailbreak exposes Pak judicial system's inability to eliminate terrorists'

Karachi, Apr 17(ANI): An editorial in a Pakistan daily has said the country's judicial system is ill- equipped to meet the challenge of eliminating terrorists .

It cited discussions in the recently concluded International Judicial Conference in Islamabad where Chief Justice Iftikar Mohammad Chaudhary said that the country's laws needed to be brought into conformity with international legal provisions against terrorism.

"Our intelligence and security services and the police are woefully inadequately equipped, conceptually or in practice, to combat the most serious existential threat the state has faced in its entire history. The Bannu jailbreak is only the latest demonstration of this fact. Everything is 'business as usual', notwithstanding occasional reactive steps whenever an incident like Bannu occurs," the editorial added.

The Daily Times editorial said no place in the country is adequately protected or safe and added that the authorities have now set up check posts on all routes leading out of the Bannu prison after the jailbreak incident, which can be described as a classic case of bolting the stable gate after the horse has long fled.

It said the guards at the Bannu prison hardly offered any resistance and submitted to militants' authority when they stormed the prison, break open the gates and helped 384 prisoners to escape from the jail.

It also pointed out that a key convict in former president Pervez Musharraf's murder attempt case, Adnan Rashid had access to cellphone and social networking sites, while being lodged in the Bannu prison.

The editorial stressed that Pakistan needs an overarching anti-terrorism agency, which is capable of coordinating with federal and provincial law enforcement authorities, provide the requisite training to anti-terrorism outfits, and raise, if required, specialised units and experts dedicated to combat terrorism. (ANI)