February 15, 2003	Saturday	Zul Hijjah 13, 1423

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KOHAT, Feb 14: The NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah has said that the army will remain on Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan as long as the Al Qaeda threats persist.

Talking to Dawn at his residence here on Eid-Day, he also said that the federal as well as provincial government’s areas had been clearly mentioned in the Constitution and no one could revoke or violate them unilaterally.

He said the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal government was responsible for law and order in the settled areas, but the governor, as representative of the federal government, was in charge of the tribal affairs, therefore, the Al Qaeda hunt on the border was not a provincial matter.

He said that he had no policy clash with the chief minister on major issues like repatriation of the Afghan refugees.

He said that the US was only interested in bringing peace to the war-torn Afghanistan and in nabbing the main culprits behind the Sept 11 attacks.

He said that the government was striving for the development of the region and in order to do this peace was a pre-requisite.

He said that Pakistan had committed troops along the western border had helped a lot in checking arms and drugs smuggling. “This was not possible until a year ago due to the standoff with India,” he said.

He brushed aside some political leaders’ statements about he being replaced saying that he would continue as governor as long as the president wished.

On the drugs and arms trafficking in the tribal areas he said that the Pakistan Ordnance Factories, Wah, planned to involve tribesmen in the manufacturing of arms as an alternate business for them.

He informed that initially the POF had given two supply orders placed by foreign companies with the tribesmen of Darra Adam Khel. “There was need to enhance cooperation as we want to be rid of the menace of smuggling which had resulted in kidnappings for ransom etc.”

Referring to the Iraq crisis he said that in the event of war nobody would be allowed to disturb the peace in the country, and appealed to the politicians to remain peaceful during anti-war demonstrations, he maintained.