Islamabad, June 04: President Pervez Musharraf's government today removed two senior officials in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP), where an Islamist-led leadership enforced Sharia law two days ago, officials said. "The chief secretary, and inspector general of NWFP police have been asked to report to Islamabad," Daniyal Aziz, chairman of the National Reconstruction Bureau, told reporters.

"New officers will be taking charge in the province," said Aziz, who is also a federal minister in Musharraf's cabinet.

The reshuffle in the top bureaucracy sets the stage for a showdown between the central government and the province being ruled by an alliance of six hardline Islamic parties.

Aziz described the removal of provincial chief secretary Shakeel Durrani and Inspector General of Police, Saeed Khan, as "completely under the law."

Bureau Report