MIRAMSHAH, June 27: Some 400 tribal elders on Tuesday held a jirga (council meeting) with the political administrator of the North Waziristan Agency to place demands and suggestions aimed at halting violence between security forces and pro-Taliban militants.

The jirga was attended by the newly-posted Political Agent Dr Fakhar-i-Alam Irfan, MNA Maulana Nek Zaman, JUI-F secretary-general Abdur Rehman, ulema and tribal elders.

The jirga demanded that the government should dismantle all new checkposts; send troops to their camps in order to allow the Levies force to take over; release innocent people detained on suspicion of links to militants; reinstate sacked local officials; disburse salaries of the people withheld; and restore all perks of the tribes in the North Waziristan Agency.

Political Agent Fakhar Alam assured the jirga that the demands would be met after thorough review by the authorities. He appealed to the elders and clerics for their support, and welcomed the ceasefire despite the Monday’s suicide attack.

On Monday a suicide car bomber killed six paramilitary troops, less than 24 hours after a purported spokesman for militants said a month-long ceasefire had been called to allow tribal elders to work out how to restore peace in the region.

“I hope that we’ll succeed in bringing peace through this jirga and, especially, with the support of tribesmen,” he added.

MNA Maulana Nek Zaman said that ulema, tribal elders, maliks and elected representatives would extend every possible support to the administration to restore peace in the troubled area.

“Previous incidents happened because of misunderstandings but we have to go forward and forget the past,” he said.