Malawi president Bingu wa Mutharika has ordered the immediate dissolution of the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) amid allegations that some intelligence officers were involved in the alleged foiled assassination plot against the president.

In a brief statement published in the capital Lilongwe on Friday, Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Charles Matabwa said the president has decided to shut down the intelligence network in order to restructure it.

But Matabwa refused to comment on allegations that this dramatic move follows President Mutharika's extraordinary exposal that his predecessor, Bakili Muluzi, and the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) had plotted to assassinate him at his official residence in Blantyre earlier this week.

"That's a very sensitive area I shouldn't touch," Matabwa said.

When taking over power after the landmark 1994 general elections that ended the one-party system, Muluzi formed the NIB to replace the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS).

The SIS, which was a branch of the Malawi Police Force, was mainly used by the former ruling Malawi Congress Party to track down and detain or liquidate any perceived opponent of former president Kamuzu Banda.

Matabwa said the NIB will be "restructured to make it perform efficiently and effectively."

Source: Xinhua