KOHAT, June 23: Tribal elders and Ulema of Miranshah have agreed to give access to army, accompanied by women inspectors, to check their houses and other suspicious areas provided no foreigner is involved in the exercise, a source in the army headquarters informed Dawn on Saturday.

The agreement was reached between the authorities and the tribal groups after attacks on the government buildings, firing on the patrolling parties and the demands of the local chieftains that all foreigners should immediately leave the area.

The local authorities had forwarded the demands to the quarters concerned for necessary action to end hostili-ties between the tribesmen and the law enforcement agencies.

The Jirga involved in the negotiations included, chief of North Waziristan Agency Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, Maulana Mohammad Dindar, Secretary-General Maulana Abdur Raheem, Malik Qadir Khan Mada Khel, Tuti Gul Dawar, Malik Bahram Khan and Malik Sharif Dawar.

The source said that although the tribesmen had agreed to cooperate with the government, they were irked by the presence of foreigners in the vocational college in Miranshah, which was cordoned off by army commandos.

Asked how much the administration trusted that the tribesmen would not provide shelter to Al Qaeda members, the source said that the the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation did not have faith in the agreement and it was adamant that tribesmen and the Al Qaeda were friends.

He said the US men patrolling the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan in Khost had asked for bombardment after hearing shots, which were common in the area.

Recently, the US B-52s bombed the Bermal area after the ground forces heard fire, which they thought was unfriendly. Such incidents were causing hatred among tribesmen on both sides of the Durand Line, he said.

He said that the tribal elders had called for restraint and warned of stern reaction to the presence of foreigners in their area and bombardment on areas along the border.

The official quoted the tribesmen as saying: “If the government trusts the foreigners and not us why should we trust them.”