President General Pervez Musharraf on Friday told a group of FATA parliamentarians that army would be withdrawn from tribal areas after January 2008, sources said. “Paramilitary forces including Frontier Constabulary (FC), Levies and Khasadars will take over the charge of tribal areas from military, which would be withdrawn after January 2008,” the president told the FATA parliamentarians who called on him here at the camp office.
| The parliamentarians assured Musharraf during the meeting that they would fully support him in his re-election bid. |
He said paramilitary forces would be fully equipped and trained to take charge of the volatile area. He said that NWFP governor would take the FATA parliamentarians into confidence on deployment of traditional forces in place of a regular army. The president has also tasked the governor with consulting the parliamentarians and preparing a strategy so that the army should be called back from tribal areas, the sources said.
They said that nearly 100 FC platoons presently deployed out of NWFP would be sent back to the province and their movement had already started. The parliamentarians, including Senator Hamidullah Jan Afridi, Senator Hafiz Abdul Malik Qadri, MNA Munir Khan Orakzai, Federal Minister GG Jamal and Governor Ali Muhammad Jan Orakzai, assured Musharraf during the meeting that they would fully support him in his re-election bid from the sitting assemblies, said the sources. |