'Frustated' Pak counter-terrorism authority chief resigns

Islamabad, July 21 (ANI): Pakistan's anti-terrorism authority chief has resigned citing personal reasons.

According to reports, Director General (DG) National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) Tariq Pervez has submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, who is yet to accept it.

"I am waiting for the acceptance of my resignation by the office of the prime minister. As soon as I will be informed about it, I will relinquish the charge of my office," The News quoted Pervez, as saying.

Pervez denied to disclose the reasons behind his sudden resignation, but sources in NACTA said that he was frustrated over being prevented from carrying forward his work that he had initiated while he served as the Federal Investigation Agency's (FIA) Director General.

"While in the FIA, he developed a system, which was extremely helpful in tracing down any person who had a record or was suspected of having any contacts with any terror or banned outfits all over the country, whenever he/she might make a contact with somebody. This system was put into practice and proved to be quite effective and beneficial for the law-enforcing agencies engaged in anti-terror efforts," sources revealed.

"However, since he was re-hired on a contract basis to head the NACTA, he was effectively rendered useless, sitting in a posh office and doing nothing. One can understand that nothing could be more frustrating for a person like Tariq Pervez," they added. (ANI)