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LANDI KOTAL, Feb 25: The NWFP governor on Saturday constituted a jirga comprising leading maliks of all tribal agencies to resolve the situation arising out of a religious discord between the groups of Mufti Munir Shakir and Pir Saifur Rehman in Bara subdivision.
The jirga has been mandated to execute the verdict of the Qaumi Jirga of Khyber Agency to oust both the mufti and the pir from the agency to maintain peace.
According to a handout issued in Peshawar on Saturday, the governor has inducted a jirga as a last ditch effort to avoid the impending operation against the Mufti Shakir group.
The jirga has been mandated to resolve the clash between the two groups created due to abusive language used by them against each other through their illegal FM radio stations.
A spokesman for the Governor’s Fata Secretariat said the step had been taken to restore peace in the area.
It should not give the impression that the operation announced on Friday against the Mufti Shakir group had been wound up or delayed, he added.
NO BIRD FLU CASE: According to PPI received from all the districts of the NWFP, no bird flu case has been detected anywhere in the province.
A meeting under the chairmanship of Arbab Shah Rukh, Special Secretary to the Chief Minister of NWFP, was held here on Saturday. It was learnt that during the last nine months, 8,000 samples were collected from all over the province and tested for the bird-flu virus but no presence of the virus was detected yet.
However, precautionary measures have been adopted and a task force “Rapid Response Team for Avian Influenza” has been constituted to take quick steps in case of an outbreak of the flu.
Mr Rukh asked the participants of the meeting to impart training to their departments so as to cope with the issue in case of an eventuality.
He urged people to refrain from relying on non- authoritative statements about the disease.
