The membership of Pakistan's supreme executive body, the National Security Council (NSC), has risen to eight as eminent religious scholar Mehmood A. Ghazi was sworn on November 16.

President Muhammad Rafiq Tarar administered the oath at a simple ceremony here.

Headed by Chief Executive General Pervaiz Musharraf, the National Security Council includes Naval Chief Admiral Abdul Aziz Mirza, Air Chief Marshal Parvaiz Mehdi Qureshi, Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada, Muhammad Yaqub, Attiya Inayatullah, Imtiaz Sahibzada and Mehmood Ahmed Ghazi.

The four civilian NSC members appointed last month are experts in legal, financial, foreign and internal affairs respectively.

Mehmood Ghazi, author of various books on Islam, is the director general of Shariah Academy of International Islamic University here. He had been judge of the Shariah Appellate Bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

Talking to reporters after taking oath, Ghazi said his induction into the NSC is a reflection of the government's desire to implement Islamic principles in the daily life, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan.