PESHAWAR, May 20: Awami National Party chief Asfandyar Wali Khan has urged Islamabad to change what he termed flawed Afghan policy, and said it was fuelling unrest in Afghanistan.

Briefing journalists after his return from the United States here at the press club on Saturday, he said the ANP had been opposed to the establishment’s weak Afghan policy. Mr Khan said that a 35-kilometre belt along the Durand Line had become a permanent source of trouble for the Afghan government. He said after committing saboteur activities inside bordering provinces in Afghanistan, the so-called ‘Islamic guerrillas’ took refuge in the ‘grey belt’. He said his party would use all available options to bring peace in the Pukhtun region which, according to him, was enveloped by a political storm and needed to be prudently tackled.

He said Pukhtuns were victims of worst kind of terrorism on both sides of the Durand Line. “Who drafted so-called Mujahideen from Afghan refugees? Who ran their training camps? Who provided them with arms and ammunitions?”

Mr Khan, who was very defensive about his US visit, said he had apprised the US administration, senators, congressmen and a numbers of think-tanks about political ideals and aspirations of Pukhtuns, adding that America was an important player “in this part of the world”.

“I begged for lasting peace for my people so that they could work in peace,” he said.

He said flames of war, destroying tribal areas in Waziristan and Bajaur, could engulf settled towns in the province. He said a smaller section of the establishment was responsible for the anarchy and destruction in Fata. He said the old administrative system of political agents had practically been replaced by military rule, which was creating uncontrollable unrest in the Fata. He said the establishment had introduced a rare sort of democracy in the Fata, popularising one-person one-vote but political parties were banned.

He said: “We are a peaceful people. We want rule of the law. The ANP believes in parliamentary democratic federation”.

He said the ANP’s central executive would discuss the Charter of Democracy, floated by the People’s Party and Pakistan Muslim League, at it meeting on June 7. He said the ANP agreed with some of the general points, but some of them like provincial autonomy needed to be defined in clear terms. The establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission was a good proposal but the commission should also look into the causes of dismemberment of Pakistan in 1971 and the emergence of Bangladesh and dissolutions of civilian governments since 1948, he added.

He suggested that the charter should guarantee the restoration of the 1973 Constitution as it was on Aug 14, 1973. Stressing that maximum provincial autonomy had been a mere slogan, Mr Khan said the charter should define the quantum of autonomy. He said they wanted a proper name for the province, reflecting its Pukhtun identity. He said that the name Khyber, proposed by Gen Pervez Musharraf during a TV interview, was no name.

He said he could not meet Benazir Bhutto, Altaf Hussain and Nawaz Sharif because of other engagements. He said Pukhtuns would never accept Kalabagh dam, adding that both could not co-exist.