May 06, 2007	Sunday	Rabi-us-Sani 18, 1428

LANDI KOTAL (Khyber Agency), May 5: MNAs, senators, councillors and lawyers from tribal areas have rejected the Pakistan-Afghanistan Peace Jirga in which, they said, tribal elders and parliamentarians were not given proper representation.

They were speaking at a “peace conference” convened by Fata parliamentarians on Saturday to discuss the deteriorating law and order situation in the tribal belt.

North Waziristan Agency Council member Malik Khan Mar Jan said the Afghanistan war mostly affected the tribal areas, but the peace jirga comprised largely non-tribal people.

He urged the government to include tribal elders and parliamentarians in the proposed jirga to be held in August.

Fata parliamentary leader Munir Aurakzai, MNA Noorul Haq Qadri and Maulana Ghulam Sadiq supported the demand.

Mr Qadri apprehended that a conspiracy was hatched against the Pakhtun and the peace jirga was formed at the behest of a “super power”. He claimed that tribal people had been deliberately kept away from the peace process.

The convener of the peace conference, Senator Hamidullah Jan Afridi, said a representative grand jirga would be convened at a suitable time to find ways and means to end extremism in tribal areas and to help restore peace in the region. He said the grand jirga would also discuss political, social and religious issues confronted by the tribal areas.

Participants of the peace conference called upon the government to implement recommendations of a committee, headed by Justice (retd) Ajmal Mian, for making amendments to the Frontier Crimes Regulation.

They observed that the FCR was a hurdle in development of the tribal areas and said powers of the political administration should be curtailed. They demanded more powers to the agency council.