August 25, 2008	Monday	Sha'aban 22, 1429

ISLAMABAD / KHAR, Aug 24: Prime Minister’s Adviser on Interior Rehman Malik rejected on Sunday a Taliban offer for ceasefire in tribal areas and said that if the militants were serious about peace talks they should first surrender their arms.

The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan had earlier declared a unilateral ceasefire and said it was ready to hold talks with the government if the military operation was halted.

“We will not consider the ceasefire offer until the Taliban renounced recourse to arms,” Mr Malik said.

Talking to reporters after dispatching a convoy of relief goods for the people displaced from the Bajaur tribal agency, he said that more troops had been sent to intensify the anti-militant operation in which about 550 militants and 16 civilians had so far been killed.

Reiterating the government’s resolve to establish its writ all over the country, Mr Malik said: “We will not back down from our principled decision,” he said.

He claimed that security forces had busted a network of suicide bombers on information provided by a would-be suicide bomber arrested after the suicide blasts near the Pakistan Ordinance Factory (POF) in Wah on Thursday.

Referring to the displaced people, he said the government had released Rs80.032 million on the request of the Interior Ministry for relief work and goods had been sent through the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to the Provincial Relief Commissioner.

Thirty relief goods trucks were dispatched to Bajaur.

Besides Mr Malik, the convoy was seen off by federal Minister for Sports Najimuddin and members of the National Assembly from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

Earlier on Sunday, Taliban spokesman Maulvi Omar told Dawn on phone in Khar that the unilateral ceasefire had been announced after consultations with a jirga to pave the way for talks with the government.

“We are announcing a unilateral ceasefire and are ready for talks on an assurance of the jirga that the operation will be halted and attacks by helicopters and planes will be stopped”, he said.

Maulvi Omar said there would be no ceasefire if the government did not call off the operation. He said that the Taliban leadership had ordered to stop all actions in the Bajaur agency.

Fierce clashes between the Taliban and security forces have been continuing in the agency for 18 days, displacing thousands of people.

The jirga headed by Malik Abdul Aziz, chief of the Mohmand tribe, held talks with the Taliban for three days.

Meanwhile, four tribesmen were killed and six others were injured during operations in Chaharmang, Nawagai, Mohmand, Badalai, Sheenagai, Kass and other areas on Saturday night.

It could not be ascertained if the victims were civilians or combatants.