"Tribesmen, jirga. Jirga, tribesmen."
"How d'ye do?"
The all-tribes jirga has met local supporters of Al Qaeda in South Waziristan Agency to ask them to surrender to the government, a tribal elder told Daily Times on Monday. âWe will discuss the jirgaâs demand to surrender to the government,â Pir Muhammad Burki, representative of the wanted tribesmen, told jirga members. However, he said the government would have to meet two demands before the wanted men surrendered.
"What demands?"
"First, you must answer three questions. If you answer wrongly, you will be killed! Then, you must bring us the collar of the fire-breathing Dragon of Wana..."
"Wait a minute! That's four things! Three questions and a quest. That's four things."
"Is not. It's only two things." |
The demands included the release of arrested tribesmen during operations and compensation for the loss of property. The tribal elder said the wanted men had agreed to resolve the problem under tribal traditions provided the government first met their demands. âThe wanted men first rejected the governmentâs surrender demand,â the elder said. The elder said the meeting between the wanted men and jirga took place at a mosque in Dhana area, which was said to be in Kaloosha. âThere were eight people representing the wanted men and armed tribesmen stood guard around the mosque,â the elder added. The jirga is scheduled to meet the wanted men today (Tuesday) after discussing their demand with top government officials and military commanders in Wana. Meanwhile, military engineers were busy upgrading Wana airport, giving rise to speculation that attack helicopters would be used in a future operation against Al Qaeda and its local supporters, a source in Peshawar said. |