The army will remain in the restive Tribal Areas and settled areas of the NWFP but will change its positions to facilitate the local population, Information Minister Sherry Rehman said on Wednesday. “There will be no reduction of army in the restive areas. The government is committed to maintaining peace. The troops will be re-deployed to new positions but will remain within a 12-hour operation range,” she told reporters after a federal cabinet meeting. Compensation: “The people whose houses were damaged during the military operation will be compensated,” she said.
She said the government was not talking to terrorists and militants and only negotiating with people who laid down arms. “There were no exchanges or bargains over the release of Ambassador Tariq Azizuddin,” she said.
The Information minister said the draft of the PPP’s constitutional reforms package was still with the Law Ministry and the cabinet would discuss it after it has been presented to it. “People have a right to peaceful protest but it is the government’s duty to maintain law and order,” she said.