LANDI KOTAL (Khyber Agency), March 30: Opponents of Latif Afridi have denied involvement in Tuesday’s, bomb blast in Peshawar. Speaking at a press conference in Bara, Imran Afridi, who is also the provincial vice-president of the Awami National Party, termed the allegation levelled by his opponent Latif Afridi as baseless.

He clarified that at the time of the bomb blast, he and his family, were attending the funeral of a person in Bara.

He alleged that the blast had been carried out by the family members of Latif Afridi. Latif Afridi said he and his family members were staunch Muslims and patriots and they could not even think of carrying out such attacks in market places.

Mr Imran demanded that the Peshawar police should include the name of Latif Afridi in their investigations.

Unidentified gunmen killed a cousin of Imran Afridi on Feb 21, 2006, at the Bara tehsil office. His family accused Latif Afridi of the killing of his cousin Muhammad Rahman.

Meanwhile, the Awami National Party on Thursday constituted a two-member conciliation committee to sort out differences between Latif Afridi and Imran Afridi.

In a statement issued from Bacha Khan Markaz in Peshawar, party leader Bashir Ahmad Bilour appealed to the two sides to show patience as both sides were senior and respected members of the ANP.

The committee, comprising Ghulam Ahmad Bilour and Afzal Khan Lala, will negotiate a settlement. The committee members will hold consultations with both the parties and will try to persuade them to end their old rivalry.

The statement said that all the party organizations were cautioned to remain neutral in the conflict between Latif Afridi and Imran Afridi as it would earn a bad name for the party.

Latif Afridi and Imran Afridi belong to Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency and they have a long-standing blood feud. The dispute has claimed several lives from both sides.