PESHAWAR, Jan 8: President Gen Pervez Musharraf will preside over a high-level meeting in Islamabad on Jan 15 to discuss the introduction of devolution plan in the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), well-placed sources told Dawn here on Tuesday.

Corps commanders, provincial governors, NRB chairman, federal interior minister, minister for Safron, chief secretaries, home secretaries of the four provinces and other senior officials will attend the meeting to decide the fate of the tribal agencies bordering Afghanistan.

The government had constituted three committees for the devolution plan and legal and administrative reforms in tribal areas. The committees had already submitted its recommendations and proposals.

It has been learnt that in the backdrop of the recent political developments in the region, particularly the formation of interim setup in Afghanistan, Islamabad was in a hurry to take final decision about the tribal belt.

They said that the Inspector General Frontier Corps, Major General Tajul Haq, would give presentation about the future role of civil and armed forces in Fata, while NWFP Minister for Excise and Taxation Aminullah Khan Gandapur would brief the meeting about the proposed devolution plan for the area.

The sources said some circles had proposed to merge the tribal areas with settled areas, but tribal elders disagreed with the proposals.

A tribal elder, who recently attended a high-level meeting in Peshawar in the context of the devolution plan for Fata, told Dawn that they opposed the merger of tribal agencies with settled areas.

He said: “We support reforms but would not give up our independent status at any cost,” and added that the government had been advised to bring reforms and appoint a resident chief commissioner for Fata.