PESHAWAR, July 17: Jamaat-i-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad has said that NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani did not take the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal into confidence before the deployment of troops in the Malakand region. He has also asked the federal government to withdraw troops from the area.

Speaking at a press conference here on Tuesday after presiding over a Jamaat-i-Islami provincial executive council meeting, Mr Ahmad endorsed the decision of the Malakand jirga, which had called for the withdrawal of troops from Swat and Lower Dir districts.

When asked if the chief minister had taken the MMA into confidence when he (Mr Durrani) asked the centre for the deployment of troops in trouble parts of the province, Mr Ahmad replied: “Not at all. JI does not agree with the deployment of troops in Malakand.”

The jirga, held in Peshawar on Monday, was presided over by the chief minister. It was convened to discuss the prevailing situation after a string of suicide attacks on security forces.

Mr Ahmad said the government should give positive response to the jirga’s proposal and allow local elders to resolve all issues through dialogue and other peaceful means.

“Troop deployment creates many complications. That is why the JI opposed its movement in the region,” he remarked, adding that the army should not take over public places in the area.

Regarding the Lal Masjid issue, he said the government should open the mosque for Friday prayers and hand over the Jamia Hafsa and Jamia Fareedia to the Wafaqul Madaris. He said if the government did not allow people to offer Friday prayers at the mosque, the MMA would launch a protest movement.

He alleged that President Gen Pervez Musharraf had ordered the Lal Masjid operation at the behest of the United States and to close down seminaries in the country.

He said that a meeting of the joint action committee of the All Parties Democratic Movement, to be held in Islamabad on July 23, would be discussing the prevailing law and order situation.