12 March 2004	Friday	20 Muharram 1425

PESHAWAR, March 11: Jamaat-i-Islami will organize a three-day tribal jirga at the Al Markaz-i-Islami here on April 2, says a JI press release.

The jirga will discuss situation in the tribal region adjacent to Afghan border in the context of the ongoing military operation against Al Qaeda and Taliban elements and their local supporters in the South Waziristan Agency.

The press release, issued here on Thursday, said that senators, MNAs, ulema, former federal ministers and elders from the seven tribal agencies and six Frontier Regions would attend the Jirga.

The three-day jirga, according to the press release, would also discuss social and economic activities in the tribal belt and would prepare a comprehensive plan for the future.

The JI, which strongly opposes the ongoing military operation in the semi-autonomous region of the country, had announced to sent a fact-finding team to the volatile region, but the administration did not allow the delegation to visit the area.

Meanwhile, NWFP minister for law and parliamentary affairs Zafar Azam has sought permission from Governor Syed Iftekhar Hussain Shah to allow him to visit the South Waziristan Agency.

Under the Frontier Crime Regulation every outsider will have to get permission from the respective tribal administration to legalize his/her entry into the tribal region.

Talking to newsmen at the NWFP Assembly secretariat on Thursday, the minister, who also holds the charge of human rights affairs, said the governor assured him to give a favourable response. He said that he wanted to visit the area to ascertain the prevailing situation in the region.

The minister said that during his meeting with the governor the final draft of Hasba Bill also came under discussion. The bill would likely be tabled in the current session of the provincial assembly.