Lahore, Nov 9 : The Pakistan Government has amended the Army Act of 1952 and President Pervez Musharraf is likely to issue an ordinance allowing military courts to prosecute terrorists and any civilians suspected of terrorist or subversive activity.

It would also allow intelligence agencies to apprehend any person suspected of terrorism, Geo News reported.

Attorney General Malik Muhammad Qayyum said that some new clauses and offences were being added to the existing Army Act to provide legal cover to law enforcement agencies.

He said that the ordinance would allow law enforcement agencies to legally arrest and prosecute alleged terrorists without an arrest warrant.

Qayyum said the new ordinance was necessary and inevitable for protecting the sovereignty of the country, adding that it would be similar to the United States’ Patriot Act.

The amendment in the Army Act is missing person specific, the channel reported.

It said that the Supreme Court had questioned the intelligence agencies’ legal authority to apprehend and detain people during the missing persons’ case and this ordinance sought to redress that.

The Geo News said that following the enactment of this ordinance, people arrested and shifted to an unknown location would not have to be presented before any court of law.

It reported that the families of missing persons could not ask the courts to force law enforcement agencies to produce suspected terrorists. (ANI)