June 29, 2006	Thursday	Jumadi-ul-Sani 2, 1427

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PESHAWAR, June 28: NWFP Governor Lt-Gen Ali Mohammad Jan Aurakzai on Wednesday reiterated his resolve to restore peace and resolve issues of the tribal areas through dialogues. “The situation is very bad. These are very difficult times. It is not good for the tribal region and the country. But I am determined to restore peace. Whatever is happening there will be resolved not through war but through dialogue and jirga. We are trying to resolve the issue through talks and there has been considerable headway. If we are sincere and our intentions are clear, there is no reason why we do not succeed,” Mr Aurakzai told a jirga of elders in Hangu.

Soon after his arrival in Hangu, Mr Aurakzai took a tour of the bazaar that saw loot and arson following a suicide bombing in a Shia procession on Feb 9 that killed more than 50 and left scores wounded.

“It was a big tragedy and a historic blot that we need to wash away,” Mr Aurakzai said. He urged elders to play a pro-active role in resolving issues before they could turn into bloody conflicts.

The governor also deplored the killing of two women teachers in his native Orakzai tribal region this month but lauded restraint by people to not allow it to degenerate it into another sectarian conflict.

Governor Aurakzai told Dawn that the suicide attack on a security checkpost in North Waziristan on Monday would not hamper and derail the peace talks between the government and militants.

“This was a stray incident and I think it happened due to lack of communication on part of the militants. They announced the ceasefire very late and probably did not communicate it to the people down under well in time. Or, probably, somebody opposed to peace did not want the talks to succeed and played a mischief. But I think it was more of a case of lack of communication than anything else,” he told Dawn at the Governor’s House after his visit to Hangu.