May 29, 2007	Tuesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 12, 1428

ISLAMABAD, May 28: At least 700 delegates will attend the Pakistan-Afghanistan Combined Jirga Commission meeting to be held in the first week of August in Kabul. This was announced at a meeting of the Pakistan Jirga Commission which met here at the interior ministry on Monday to finalise Terms of Reference (TOR) of the joint meeting.

The meeting headed by the commission’s president, Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, decided that about 350 delegates from each side will take part in the Jirga commission of the two countries.

“The delegates from the two sides, including tribal lords, top security officials and bureaucrats, will sit together to address common problems like terrorism, border security, installation of fence on the border by Pakistan, cross border infiltration of terrorists and repatriation of Afghan refugees in Pakistan,” a senior official of the interior ministry said.

The official said the TORs of the joint Jirga will be finalised by the two sides for which a 12-member Afghan Jirga Commission, led by Pir Said Gillani, will visit Pakistan from May 31 to June 2.

Pakistan’s Jirga Commission, headed by the interior minister, comprises WFP Governor Jan Mohammad Aurakzai, Governor Balochistan Awais Ahmed Ghani, Federal Minister for State and Frontier Region Sardar Yar Mohammad Rind and Federal Minister for Culture Dr Syed Ghulab Jamal.

The Afghan Jirga Commission is headed by Pir Said Ahmed Gillani and its other members are Haji Mohammad Muhaqaq, Fazl Hadi Shanwari, Ms Ameena Afzai, Haji Din Mohammad, Fazl Ahmed Manawi, Hassan Takhari, Abdul Khaliq Hussani, Asadullah Wafa and Farooq Vardak.

Pakistan has reportedly fenced over 25 km on the border in the North-West Frontier Province under the country border management programme to stop infiltration of terrorists.

According to the interior minister, the fence was being erected on selective areas of the country’s border with Afghanistan.

On the other hand, Kabul claimed that Pakistan had started fencing 2,500 km of the Durand Line (disputed border) and said the fencing of the border would separate tribes and families living on either side.