27 February 2004	Friday	06 Muharram 1425

PESHAWAR, Feb 26: The Fata Reforms Committee, a body of tribal reformers, has decided to organize a Tribal Loya Jirga in the last week of March to get itsrecommendations implemented.

Speaking at a news conference here at the Peshawar Press Club on Thursday, Fata Reforms Committee members expressed concern on the non-execution of reforms in the seven tribal agencies proposed by the committee. It would seek the support of mainstream political parties on the establishment of an independent judicial system free from the influence of political administration in the agencies, they added.

The Fata Reforms Committee, they said, would invite MNAs, MPAs, senators, intellectuals, politicians and social activists to witness the proceedings of the jirga.

The event would seek political support and press the federal government for the implementation of FRC package in the tribal belt, they said. They denied that the security agencies had arrested any foreign national during the operation clean-up in Wana, South Waziristan.

The government itself had brought some foreigners but subsequently dubbed them terrorists, they claimed. They agreed that Fata was being shepherded by a powerful mafia, comprising hand-picked tribal elders, security personnel, corrupt functionaries and docile press, who were responsible for the backwardness and poverty in the tribal areas.

They said they wanted to turn the Fata Reforms Committee into an effective political platform which should rally the like-minded tribesmen, political parties working in Fata and social pressure groups to bring about a positive change in the area.

They thanked the Awami National Party for extending its support to the committee and endorsing its reforms package. It appealed to the other political parties to support them in their just struggle in Fata.

They said President Gen Pervez Musharraf had made the historic announcement on the Fata reforms two years ago on Jan 23, 2002, but the bureaucracy was trying to maintain the old system "based on exploitation, suppression and coercion."

The tribesmen welcomed the decision to make the political administration subservient to an elected tribal body, they added. The tribesmen, they said, wanted amendments to the Frontier Crimes Regulations, their participation in social development and extension of Political Parties Act up to Fata.

"We want check and balance, representation in the provincial assembly and a separate university in Fata," they added. They said the introduction of local government system in Fata would help tribesmen to decide about their local affairs freely.

They said the extension of the local government system up to Fata was the best solution of many problems. The tribesmen were law abiding people, who were opposed to the presence of terrorists and criminals in their areas, they said. Those who addressed the press conference were Iqbal Khyberwal, Marwat Khan Orakzai, Taur Gul, Zahir Shah Safi, and Ghani Gul Mehsood.