October 26, 2003	Sunday	Sha’aban 29, 1424

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PESHAWAR, Oct 25: There are no signs of an organized move of Al Qaeda activists in the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas and it is impossible to make any such moves under the existing security arrangements, says NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah.

He said this while talking to a group of ambassadors, mainly representing European countries, here on Saturday.

Dispelling the impression about activities of supporters of the Al Qaeda network and the Taliban in the tribal areas, the governor said that the propaganda campaign unleashed by the Western media was totally absurd.

The governor said that under the existing arrangements, the people of the tribal areas were bound to hand over individuals found to be harbouring the unwanted elements, adding that if they did not do so they would have to face harsh consequences.

The existing judicial system and the process of dispensation of justice in tribal areas was introduced during the British Raj and the people of tribal areas were quite happy with it, he told the delegation.

In the post-Sept 11 situation, the governor said, it was impossible for any outsider to make any organized movement in the tribal areas.

Referring to the recent incident in the South Waziristan Agency, he said that of the five tribesmen found to be harbouring unwanted elements, three had already been handed over by their respective tribes to the government.