PESHAWAR, Dec 1: The NWFP Governor's Secretariat here has denied reports that its handout of Nov 26 announced withdrawal of troops from the Ahmedzai Wazir tribe's area.

In a statement issued here on Wednesday, the Governor's Secretariat said that troops were not being withdrawn from the whole of the Ahmedzai Wazir tribe area. The statement said that except for Azam Warsak and Shin Warsak, troops would not be withdrawn from any of the areas till it was deemed fit.

The Nov 26 handout issued after a jirga of the Ahmedzai Wazir tribe at the Governor's House quoted Corps Commander Peshawar Lt-Gen Safdar Hussain as saying that "all the interim security check posts will be wound up in Wana from today and the army will not apply force against anyone in the area from now onward".

The Governor's Secretariat said in its statement that an impression had been created by certain press reports as if security forces were being withdrawn from the South Waziristan Agency after the agreement between the Ahmedzai Wazirs and the government.

The statement described this impression as totally misleading and incorrect. It said the factual position was that after the agreement reached between the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe of Wana and the government, the tribe surrendered the main harbourers of foreign militants in Wana namely Sharif, Umar, Maulvi Abbas, Maulvi Abdul Aziz, Javed Karmazkhel and Malik Bakhan.