March 25, 2007	Sunday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 5, 1428

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PESHAWAR, March 24: Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao has called upon Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai to hold talks with resistance groups for a lasting peace in his country

Talking to journalists after a meeting of the provincial council of the Pakistan People’s Party (Sherpao) here on Saturday, Mr Sherpao expressed satisfaction over meetings of the Pakistan-Afghan jirga and hoped that it would pave the way for peace in the region.

Referring to the clashes between local tribesmen and foreign militants in Waziristan, the minister said it was a part of government’s peace agreements with tribesmen that foreign militants would either surrender to the government or leave the tribal territory. He maintained that foreign militants had betrayed the peace agreements, which led to the clashes. He said foreigners would have to leave the tribal belt because their presence was a permanent source of trouble in Fata.

About his faction of the PPP, Mr Sherpao said it would maintain its independent status.

He said the PPP (Sherpao) was a continuation of the political struggle launched by Shaheed Hayat Sherpao and his companions. He said party workers would give practical shape to his political ideals.

He said certain political parties had fooled the Pakhtun nation through various slogans and had failed to take effective measures for their wellbeing.

Mr Sherpao regretted that the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal was voted to power in the NWFP by the masses but it failed to implement Shariat. He expressed concern over the rise in extremism in the province and said the people were feeling insecure due to wrong policies of the MMA government.

He alleged that the spread of extremist tendencies was the outcome MMA’s wrong policies because it had kept silence over these developments.

He vowed that his party would chalk out an effective strategy to combat extremism in the province.

On the judicial crisis, he said “we have full confidence in the judiciary and the government believes in an independent judiciary”.

Earlier, the meeting adopted various resolutions condemning terrorism and calling for an amicable solution to the Iran nuclear issue, restoring peace in Afghanistan, providing compensation to people affected by rain and providing grants to the NWFP by the federal government on the pattern of Balochistan.