Senior representatives of the Taliban attended the grand tribal jirga's meeting with NWFP Governor Ali Muhammad Jan Orakzai on Monday, and were told that foreign militants should leave Pakistan. Maulvi Mir Qasim and Maulvi Muhammad Aalam, considered close to the Taliban in North Waziristan, were among 45 other jirga members who met Orakzai, official and tribal sources told Daily Times."The foreign militants must leave our soil," Orakzai told the Taliban representatives and jirga members. "Those who prefer to stay in Pakistan due to some genuine reason can be allowed after the tribesmen guarantee that these foreigners will obey the laws of the land," he said.
A jirga member said that Orakzai was told to stop the "army's direct interference in official administration business". The jirga assured the governor that the Taliban would abide by the law if the security forces withdraw from North Waziristan, he said. He said that Orakzai had asked the jirga members to make the Taliban meet the government's demands as "generously" as the government had accepted their demands — the release of prisoners, removal of check posts and restoration of privileges for elders. Official sources said the meeting had a difference of opinion on cross border infiltration. “The Taliban commanders are asking for safe passage, which the government refuses to accept,” said the sources.