PESHAWAR, Feb 15: A joint journalists-cum-tribesmen jirga, struggling for the recovery of Sohail Qalandar, Resident Editor of daily Express, on Thursday condemned the arrests of poor tribesmen on the basis of collective tribal responsibility by the political administration in the Khyber Agency and demanded their immediate release.

The joint journalists-cum-tribesmen jirga was convened by the Action Committee here at the Peshawar Press Club to seek the assistance of tribal elders and agency councillors for the early and safe recovery of Mr Qalandar and his friend Niza Mohammad, who had been missing since Jan 2. Action Committee Chairman Shamim Shahid presided over the meeting. The participants agreed that the political administration, which drew its power from the FCR, was the source of all evils and demanded drastic changes into it.