The government has extended the suspension of the operation in Bara region for an indefinite period as Mangal Bagh - head of Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) - 'surrendered' to government demands, Khyber Agency Political Agent (PA) Tariq Hayat Khan said on Saturday. 'He (Bagh) has surrendered to all our demands and the operation shall now remain suspended,' Hayat told Daily Times following talks with jirga members who returned from a meeting with the LI chief in the remote Tirah Valley on Friday.The demands include a guarantee in writing by Bagh to maintain good behaviour along with a payment of cash, surrender of weapons, release of all hostages and a ban on the display of weapons in public. Hayat said his administration would hold further talks with the jirga members on Sunday (today) to work out modalities for the implementation of security in the area.
Denial: Muhammad Ali, an official in charge of a crisis management centre set up by the government in Peshawar to monitor the offensive, said however it was still under way, though 'in a mild tone', reported AP.
No list of demands: Hayat's statement that Bagh had 'surrendered to the government terms' was however in conflict with a jirga member's statement, which said no side had given them, as intermediaries, any list of demands. 'The government gave the jirga no list of demands for Bagh,' jirga member Shaukat Khan Afridi told a news conference in Bara, adding, 'Nor had Bagh preconditioned talks with the government.'
Afridi said both sides had authorised the jirga to negotiate a settlement to the issue. Hayat said the government had not held any talks, direct or indirect, with Bagh. 'The Afridi tribe's jirga did not negotiate for a settlement nor did the government.'