GB police 'barred' from escorting CM outside region.

GILGIT -- After the interior ministry stopped the Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) chief minister and the governor from using regional police as their security detail during visits outside the region, CM's aide Shamsul Haq Lone hit back at the interior minister, saying the regional government would challenge the directive in court.

The GB CM usually has a security detail of eight police personnel, led by an official of the rank of SP.

In a letter sent by the interior ministry to the GB chief secretary, chief secretaries and police chiefs of all provinces and Azad Kashmir and the chief commissioner and SP Islamabad, the federal government directed that security arrangements for the GB governor and Chief Minister Khalid Khurshid during their visits outside the region would be arranged by the respective provincial and regional governments. According to the letter, seen by Dawn, the GB government will not deploy its police officials for the security of the CM and the governor.

The communique drew a strong response from the aide to the CM, who condemned the move and announced that the GB government would not accept the order. He said the regional government would take the interior ministry to court for issuing such directives. The adviser called Interior Minister...