ISLAMABAD: The federal government has decided to withdraw a statement mentioning the existence of a previously unknown militant outfit, the 'Muhajir Republican Army', from the report submitted to the Supreme Court on Thursday.

Attorney General Munir A. Malik had presented the report to the apex court when asked about the federal government's stance on providing assistance to the Sindh government in normalising the law and order situation in Karachi.

During the National Assembly session on Friday, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said that the government was retracting the mention of the militant group in the report. He claimed that the report was submitted to the Supreme Court without his permission and that he would apologise to the court for it.

However, Nisar clarified that he did not mean to say that the report regarding the Muhajir Republican Army was erronous. He said that the report submitted to the SC was an administrative report and that such reports should not be presented in the apex court.

The interior minister acknowledged that there was mention of the shadowy outfit in an administrative meeting, but claimed that the report was presented to the Supreme Court without his permission.

Nisar said that he had written to the Supreme Court for the report to be withdrawn.