LANDI KOTAL (Khyber Agency), Jan 8: Tribesmen from different walks of life have opposed a reported US plan of carrying out direct military operations in tribal areas against suspected Al Qaeda and Taliban hideouts.

Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, Khyber Agency, amir and a candidate for NA-45 Mufti Ejaz said any intervention by the United States would have disastrous consequences.

He said his party had always considered US military intervention in Afghanistan as a prelude to their future adventure into Pakistan. He said JUI leaders had warned the country’s political and military leadership about such a danger but they did not pay heed to the warnings.

He cautioned that a civil war would break out in the country if the US was allowed to carry out attacks in the tribal area.

Awami National Party, Khyber Agency, president Abdur Rahim Afridi said all such plans were aimed at annihilation of the Pukhtuns. He warned that any such misadventure by the US would result in the killing of thousands of innocent tribesmen.

Zwan Pakhtoon Gwand leader Ikramullah Jan Kukikhel termed President Pervaiz Musharraf and his US counterpart George Bush greater terrorists than Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

He suggested that instead of using force and allowing the US army to operate in the tribal area the Pakistani leadership should resolve the conflict through political dialogue. He said US military intervention would never bring peace to the tribal area, rather it would complicate the issue with the tribesmen being the ultimate losers.

Murad Saqi, a member of the agency council, said the local councils should be empowered to hold talks with militant groups. He said the political administration should be authorised to carry out operations in case of a deadlock in negotiations.

A private school administrator in Landi Kotal, Wali Khan Shinwari, warned that a US attack would seriously harm the integrity of Pakistan. He said any such move would compel the ordinary tribesmen to take up arms against their own army.

He said the tribesmen were capable of driving out militants from their area, provided they were strongly backed by the government.