PESHAWAR, June 12: NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani has said that the worsening law and order situation in Bara and Waziristan can be improved through dialogue and military operation was not a solution to the problem.

Talking to media persons after attending a workshop on education here on Monday, the chief minister said the situation in the tribal areas needed to be controlled as the problem could spread to the settled areas.

He said the province needed 15,000 more policemen to deal with the law and order situation but the demand had not been fulfilled by the federal government.

The NWFP government has also demanded about 50 platoons of Frontier Constabulary but presently only 20 platoons were deployed in Dera Ismail Khan and Tank districts to control the law and order situation, Mr Durrani said.

In reply to a question, he said nine members for the grand tribal jirga for North Waziristan had been nominated.

He said he would soon meet President Pervez Musharraf to inform him about the situation.—Bureau Report