 Tribal Taliban offered to enter into negotiations with the government for peace in the tribal areas as thousands attended a jirga in Mir Ali, the second biggest town in North Waziristan, on Monday.
| And the terms of surrender are: |
“Troops should leave Waziristan, all arrested people should be released, wanted men be given amnesty, military operations be halted and innocent people should no longer be killed or their homes demolished and the ban on display of weapons be lifted,” were some of the key Taliban demands read out from a letter by clerics at the jirga, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) general-secretary Maulana Abdur Rehman told Daily Times by phone.
| "Prisoners will then be released and heads reattached. Officers will be permitted to keep their scimitars and sidearms." |
NWFP Chief Minister Akram Durrani and National Assembly Opposition Leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman were named as “would-be key witnesses” to the peace agreement. But the Taliban made it clear that the withdrawal of troops was the “key demand” if the government was “interested in peace in North Waziristan”.
| "Otherwise, we'll demand unconditional surrender and you won't be allowed to keep your scimitars!" |
He said that the army’s presence had contributed to “anarchy and lawlessness” in Waziristan and the “whole Utmanzai tribe” at the jirga agreed that a military pullout was the “best course to follow”.
| "Yasss. It's better that you leave. We'll take it from here." |
He dismissed government claims that the army has been deployed in the area to fight foreign militants. “There are no foreigners here,” he said. “Here are those people who were earlier granted licences by the government,” he added, but did not elaborate.
| That'd be the foreigners, of course, but once you've got a license you're not a foreigner anymore, and it's good forever... |
He said the Utmanzai tribe hoped the army would respond positively to the demand for surrender its withdrawal from major towns, leaving it to guard only the border. “Let the paramilitary force and tribal police ensure law and order in all towns of Waziristan,” he said.
| "Let a million poppies bloom!" |
A tribal elder who attended the jirga said the clerics dominated the meeting. “Mostly the clerics spoke and tribal elders were either not allowed to speak or deliberately kept silent,” he told Daily Times on condition of anonymity. |