Tribesmen held a rare meeting on Friday to try to broker a peace deal between the government and Taliban and Al Qaeda militants operating near the Afghan border, officials said. The 45-member “grand jirga” or council including tribal elders, local legislators and Islamic scholars gathered in Miranshah, the capital of restive North Waziristan region. Hundreds of people have died in recent clashes between security forces and fundamentalist Islamic rebels in the semi-autonomous tribal zone, but the insurgents launched a unilateral ceasefire there last month. The government and the tribesmen say they are trying to find a political solution in accordance with tribal customs and traditions, instead of dealing with the problem through military means. “We are passing through a very difficult and delicate phase of our history,” Ali Mohammad Jan Orakzai, the governor of North West Frontier Province, which borders the tribal region, told jirga members on Thursday. “The current situation demands that we must take every step with caution and a deep sense of commitment and responsibility”.
Officials said the immediate task of the jirga would be to get an extension in the truce which expires on July 25. But the rebels also gave a string of demands, including replacing army troops with tribal police and the release of all tribesmen detained in military operations.