PESHAWAR, March 15: Fata MNAs Maulvi Mohammad Sadeq and Maulana Khalilur Rehman on Sunday rejected a government's proposal to impose sales tax in the tribal areas.

In a press release, they said they would oppose any such decision taken without the tribal people's consent. The imposition of sales tax would undermine NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah's efforts for the development of the tribal areas and establishment of an industrial zone there, they said.

They said the bureaucrats in Islamabad were unaware of the situation in Fata. The MNAs said that on one hand the tribesmen were being targeted and killed in the name of operation against Al Qaeda and on the other hand tax was being imposed on them. In such a situation, the people would oppose the imposition of sales tax in Fata, they added.