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Army to remain in Swat, Tribal Areas, says Rehman Malik

* Adviser to PM says people affected by military operation will be compensated for damages, govt will free all ‘innocent’ people

Staff Report

PESHAWAR: The army will not be withdrawn from the Tribal Areas and the Swat district as long as the law-enforcement agencies are unable to take control of the situation, Adviser to Prime Minister on Interior Rehman Malik said on Tuesday.

Talking to media with NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani after meeting Mehsud tribe elders at the Governor’s House, he said the army would stay in the region unless the writ of the state was enforced. He told the elders that the people affected by the military operation would be compensated for damages to their houses, APP reported. Malik also announced the re-opening of the Makin-Ladha-Tiarza Road.

Innocent people: He said the Pakistan People’s Party-led government believed in bringing peace and progress through negotiations rather than force. He said that all the innocent people arrested during operations in the Tribal Areas would soon be released.

He also alleged that neighbouring countries that did not like Pakistan’s nuclear programme were behind most of the militancy in the region.

The Mehsud elders told the governor that some of their tribesmen had been apprehended on basis of suspicion and not actual criminal activity. “Some families and tribesmen were targeted not because of any involvement in the situation, but because of family feuds or personal vendettas,” they added.

Tribal elder Senator Saleh Shah said the Mehsud elders had presented seven demands for the government’s consideration. “We want the immediate re-opening of Speenkay Raghzai road, release of detained people, compensation to affected people and resumption of development schemes,” he told Daily Times after the meeting.

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