15 January 2005	Saturday	04 Zilhaj 1425

PESHAWAR, Jan 14: A five-member team of the US congressmen visited the troubled South Waziristan tribal region on Friday, said officials sources.

The team met a 13-member jirga of the Mehsud and Ahmadzai-Wazir tribesmen in the Brigade headquarters at Zari Noor colony.

But the Inter Services Public Relations has denied that any US team visited the region. Well-placed official sources said Commanding Officer Maj-Gen Niaz Khattak had briefed the delegation on the ongoing operation in the tribal region for flushing out foreign militants.

Malik Jamil Khan, a jirga member, told Dawn on phone from Wana that the congressmen were interested in finding out about foreign militants in the tribal region. "Some of the militants have been killed by the army, while others have fled. Now there are no foreign militants in our region," he quoted one of the jirga members as responding to the congressmen's questions.

The tribesmen informed the delegation that lack of education, proper infrastructure and job opportunities encouraged and bred extremism, and asked for more funding to bring the backward area at par with the developed regions.

They also asked for setting up of industrial units to process locally grown fruits to combat unemployment and improve their living conditions. Sources informed that the congressmen assured the jirga that they would look into their problems and try to support the government in generating employment opportunities in the region.

The sources said that recently the Islamabad based foreign military attaches had also visited Wana, the regional headquarters of the agency. The congressmen, flown into Wana by a helicopter, were later flown back.

Tight security measures had been taken on the occasion and helicopter gun ships were hovering over the area to avert any possible attack. The officials were reluctant to speak on the record about the meeting.