PESHAWAR, May 6: Fata Lawyers Forum has demanded withdrawal of troops deployed in tribal areas, saying that 90 per cent of the operation against foreign militants in the area had been completed. “Any further presence of troops in the areas would lead to a clash between tribesmen and the army,” Taj Mahal Afridi, general-secretary of the forum, said at a press conference at the press club here on Friday.

He said that the lawyers’ forum had been trying to allay misconceptions among the tribal people about the presence of the army in the tribal areas. At the same time, he advised the army to restrict its operation to flushing out foreign militants from the area and avoid what Mr Afridi termed turning the operation against innocent tribal people.

Many innocent tribesmen had become victims during the operation against foreign militants, he alleged.

Any further incident of this nature could lead to ‘a bloody clash’ between the tribesmen and the army, he said.

President of Fata Lawyers Forum, A Karim Mahsud, rejected the committees formed by the Jamaat-i-Islami and the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Fazl-ur-Rehman) for recommendations on the proposed amendments to the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR).

He said the political parties had no right to interfere in Fata affairs.

Mr Mahsud urged political and social groups, maliks, agency councillors, journalists and parliamentarians to present their recommendations for amending the FCR.

He supported the committee formed by the NWFP governor for recommendations and demanded that powers of the political agent under the FCR be curtailed.

The president of Fata Lawyers Forum also conveyed to the government that they would never accept any un-Islamic amendments to the FCR nor those that were against tribal traditions.

Under the FCR, he said, the political agent assumed the role of prosecutor, respondent, witness and judge at the same time. “It is nothing but a one-man show,” he alleged.

Describing the recommendations of Fata Lawyers Forum, he called for appointment of an agency judge and establishment of judicial appellate court while separating administration from judiciary in the FCR.

For restoration of all human rights in Fata, he said establishment of a bench of the Federal Shariat Court was also necessary.

The forum also demanded complete powers for agency councils which should also include the power to nominate its chairman.