July 29, 2002	Monday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 18,1423

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MIANWALI, July 28: The parties in the Abbakhel pardon deal met at Kalabagh on Sunday and pledged to stay firm on the the revised agreement — Rs8 million, minus girls.

In the original deal the murderers’ family had offered Rs8 million and eight young girls to the relatives of the two men they killed, in exchange for their pardon,

The meeting was arranged by Nawabzada Malik Asad Khan of Kalabagh at his Bohar bungalow.

Representatives of the complainants said they would record their statement with the District and Sessions Judge, Mianwali, in a day or two to complete the pardon proceedings.

The four condemned murderers would then be freed from the local Central Jail.

Nawabzada Malik Asad Khan told newsmen, the original deal involving Diyat and girls was cut by the rival groups themselves, and he simply played the role of a mediator.

Disapproving Vani — trading of girls to settle disputes — he said it was an agelong custom.

He appreciated the government’s ‘timely action’ to save the girls, and hoped that “it will uproot this evil from the area.”

Other mediators, namely Obaidullah Khan Shadikhel, former MNA, Taj Muhammad Kund, former MPA, were also present on the occasion.

The Diyat amount, according to the local tradition, is deposited with the chief mediator — in this case the Nawab of Kalabagh, which will be handed over to the aggrieved party after the release of the convicts from the jail.

There are reports of differences having surfaced among the would-be recipients of Rs8 million over its distribution.