PESHAWAR, Jan 20: The Awami National Party (ANP) has demanded of the federal government to bring about improvements in the century-old 'draconian' Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR) governing the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).

In a press release issued here on Thursday, the chief of ANP Asfandyar Wali Khan and his mother Begum Nasim Wali, the chief of the NWFP chapter of the ANP, took exception to the recently-made statement by the NWFP governor, Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah, under which he linked amendments under the FCR to the deweaponization in Fata.

Expressing dissatisfaction over the governor's remarks, ANP leaders said that proliferation of sophisticated weapons had taken place in the entire country over the past three decades.

"The easy availability of sophisticated weapons," they maintained, "needs special attention."

They said that the presence of weapons could not justify imposition of inhuman laws such as the FCR in the entire country.

"The two assassination attempts over the life of President Musharraf took place in the General Headquarters area. Could this justify imposition of draconian laws such as the FCR in Islamabad and Rawalpindi?"

They said that their party was of the view that bureaucracy was 'unnecessarily' delaying implementation of reforms in Fata.

"These tactics to obstruct and delay the reform process was not in the larger interest of the people of Pakistan. Therefore, amendments in line with the aspiration of the common people of Fata are the right steps in the right direction," concluded the press release quoting the two ANP leaders as having said.