May 30, 2007	Wednesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 13, 1428

LANDI KOTAL, May 29: NWFP Governor Ali Muhammad Jan Aurakzai said on Tuesday that iron hand would be used in dealing with anyone challenging the government’s writ in the Khyber Agency.

Talking to a delegation of tribal journalists at Governor’s House in Peshawar, he said that the government wanted a peaceful resolution to the conflict between the Lashkar-i-Islam and Ansarul Islam but insisted that “other options” were also available. The governor said that the local administration was refraining from initiating an all-out operation against militant groups but this should not be read as its weakness. Promising that in the coming days, residents of Bara will witness a “visible change” in the government policy, he said that the provincial government had established four checkpoints between Peshawar district and the Khyber Agency to check the movements of criminal groups operating in Bara tehsil.

Headed by the president of the Tribal Union of Journalists, Nasir Momand, the delegation accused the Khyber political administration of having failed to take punitive measures against the militant groups. Referring to the threats these groups have issued to local journalists and the recent grenade attack on Mashriq correspondent Nasrullah Afridi’s house, the delegation said that at least three FM stations, which according to them are at the root of the conflict, were still operating in Bara. They said the area residents had lost faith in the political administration since the Lashkar-i-Islam established a parallel administration, demolished the houses of its opponents and imposed fine on Bara’s representative in the National Assembly. The Lashkar is holding all of Bara hostage to its whims, they said.