July 05, 2006	Wednesday	Jumadi-ul-Sani 8, 1427

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LANDI KOTAL (Khyber Agency), July 4: Stalemate persisted on Tuesday in talks between the Bara political administration and a local jirga to find out a solution to the closure of the Bara bazaar and maintenance of law and order.

Sources in Bara said that while the jirga was demanding the opening of Bara bazaar, the administration was pressing the jirga members to guarantee peace in the area. The jirga members are deflecting the authorities pressure and instead asked the administration to fulfil its obligations of maintaining peace in areas under its jurisdiction, they said.

The administration also made it clear that Lashkar-i-Islam leaders had to surrender and shut down their illegal FM radio station in Gogrina.

The jirga members have so far failed to persuade the Lashkar men to lay down their arms and close their FM station.

Along side negotiations with the jirga, the authorities also started setting up additional checkpoints around the Bara bazaar to keep a check on the movements of anti-social elements and also effectively implement the ban on public display of arms.

During the last couple of weeks, the Khasadar force have established at least five new checkpoints in collaboration with the Mehsood Scouts at Bara Qadeem, Niazi Market, Sheikhan, FC Ground and Shalobar Road.

The authorities sealed thousands of shops and warehouses on June 10 after Lashkar-i-Islam militants took unlawful control of the Bara bazaar under the pretext of maintaining peace. This is the longest closure of the bazaar in the past three decades.

ONE KILLED: A young man was killed and another injured in a gunbattle here on Tuesday.

The incident occurred in the Cheengai area of Zakhakhel when Tariq Shah fired upon his uncle Daud Khan after a quarrel over a domestic issue.