PESHAWAR, Feb 14: The NWFP government has convened an all-party conference (APC) on Monday to mull over the Swat situation and seek backing for a major political initiative to end violence in the volatile region.

“There has to be a political issue,” the ANP provincial president and NWFP peace envoy, Afrasiab Khattak told Dawn.

Monday’s meeting will be attended by provincial heads of all political parties including those outside the parliament, elected representatives from Malakand division and members of the NWFP cabinet.

“We will sit and discuss as to what to do. The military is going to stay there but we need to introduce a political initiative to try and end violence in Swat,” Khattak said.

The decision to convene an APC on Swat has come following a high level meeting in Islamabad on Friday jointly chaired by President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

The meeting was also attended by Army Chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, ISI DG Ahmad Shuja Pasha, NWFP Governor Owais Ahmad Ghani, Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti and ANP president Asfandyar Wali Khan. “There was a convergence of views. There was full discussion on the situation in Swat, the military operation and possible political options to end the violence,” Khattak said.

Divergent statements had emerged from the federal capital on Friday with President Zardari promising to quell the rising tide of terrorism and extremism with force and Prime Minister Gilani emphasising the need for taking political approach.

The flurry of meetings and discussions took place amid reports that the third phase of the ongoing military operation in Swat was not achieving its goals.

Officials said that the NWFP government was considering making a public statement -- a key demand by leader of the defunct Tehrik-i-Nifaz-i-Sharia Muhammadi, Maulana Sufi Mohammad -- pledging to introduce Sharia in Malakand division once peace was restored to the restive region.

Sufi Mohammad on his part has agreed not to insist on a timeframe and go to Swat to neutralise his estranged son-in-law Maulana Fazlullah and his diehard supporters.

Officials said that while the NWFP government and military establishment was in favour of lending support to Sufi Mohammad to deny Maulana Fazlullah the moral high ground of struggling for Sharia, President Zardari was weary of the initiative that might harm his secular credentials in western capitals.

The initiative also came under discussion at the Friday meeting at the Presidency, according to informed sources; and apparently the provincial government had been given the nod by the federal government with some reluctance.

Officials said that the government had already discussed with Sufi Mohammad point-to-point the amendments to the 1994 Nizam-i-Adl Regulation, already in vogue in Malakand and had been able to prevail upon the octogenarian leader to give up his opposition to the draft proposals.

“Those were difficult negotiations convincing Sufi Mohammad but we managed to get him agree to our proposals with some minor changes,” one official said.

“The basic aim of this initiative is to deny Maulana Fazlullah the slogan that he is struggling for the enforcement of Sharia. He has been saying that he would agree if Sufi Mohammad agrees to the government proposals. So here is the bait. If Fazlullah continues to resort to violence, it would strengthen the government’s hands to go the whole hog against him and his people,” the official said.The Monday meeting of all political forces and elected representatives is aimed at getting their support for the political initiative to end the violence.