June 09, 2007	Saturday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 23, 1428

TANK, June 8: Denying involvement in the recent killing of 13 people in an attack on the residence of Khyber Agency’s Political Agent Amiruddin Khan, militant commander in the South Waziristan Agency Baitullah Mehsud offered 20 rams to the victim’s family.

‘Nanwati’ was offered by a joint jirga of the Mehsud tribe and colleagues of Baitullah Mehsud.

Nanwati is part of the Pakhtun tribal custom in which the aggrieved family is offered rams to express regret and seek pardon.

The jirga, comprising tribal parliamentarians, a deputy of Mr Baitullah, Maulana Noor Saeed and elders of the Mehsud tribe, visited Mr Khan’s residence in Jatai Qala.

Maulana Saeed regretted the incident and denied involvement of Mr Baitullah. He said that some elements had carried out the barbaric act by using Taliban and Mr Baitullah’s name.

Armed men attacked Mr Khan’s house in Jatai Qala on May 31 and killed 13 people, including five members of his family and wounded two others.

“Baitullah has ordered investigations and culprits would be punished very soon,” he said, adding that the ‘nanwati’ had been offered not to pardon the killers. He said that some individuals belonging to Baitullah’s group might have carried out the attack.

Senator Salih Shah Qureshi told Dawn that the bereaved family accepted the ‘nanwati’ and authorised the jirga to punish the culprits in accordance with the tribal tradition. He added that Mr Baitullah had denied his organisation’s involvement in the attack.