PESHAWAR, Sept 8: The federal government has held out an assurance that the Frontier government would be taken into confidence before any decision was taken for launching any operation against Taliban or Al Qaeda in the NWFP.

This was stated by NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani while talking to newsmen during a tea break in the Assembly hall on Monday.

The chief minister said that the MMA government would be consulted and taken into confidence before any decision was taken by the federal government to launch operation against Taliban or Al Qaeda remnants in the province.

Mr Durrani also took exception to remarks made by federal minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad against the Frontier government during a public meeting in Nowshera some days ago, saying the minister should come to the NWFP only as a federal minister or as a guest and then he would be given a full protocol.

The chief minister said that the MMA government believed in solving all issues through negotiations and bilateral understanding. He said as a guest Mr Ahmad must keep in view the honour of his hosts and refrain from making derogatory or controversial remarks. About the Army exercises in Bannu, Mr Durrani said that when he heard about the landing of army helicopters in Bannu, he immediately called the Peshawar Corps Commander, who told him that these were routine exercises.

Mr Durrani said he had told the interior minister during his visit to Islamabad that the federal government must take into confidence the provincial government concerned before launching any operation there. This would remove misunderstandings, he added.