ISLAMABAD, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) on Monday passed with majority a controversial bill, the NNI news agency reported.

    The law called "Hisba (accountability) Bill", was presented by the six-party religious alliance that governs in the province, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA).

    The bill was first passed in July 2005 but was rejected by Pakistan's Supreme Court in August that year, who termed various clauses of the law as unconstitutional and illegal and asked the provincial governor not to sign the bill into law.

    Under the new law, an Islamic watchdog will monitor the observance of Islamic values in public places and people will been sured to respect the call to prayers, pray on time and not to engage in commerce at the time of Friday prayers.

    The cleric "mohtasib", who holds other accountable, will stopunrelated men and women from appearing in public places together, and monitor the media to ensure "publications are useful for the promotion of Islamic values."