PESHAWAR: The tribal jirga on Thursday termed the US drone attacks as an effort to sabotage peace talks with the Taliban and demanded of the government to take steps to immediately stop drone attacks.
A meeting of the jirga comprising of tribal elders was convened by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) in Peshawar on Thursday to ponder over the peace efforts in the region.
Talking to media representatives after the meeting, the JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that the jirga agreed to provide support for the ongoing efforts of peace.
The JUI-F chief said that the jirga after consulting the political leadership has chalked out a roadmap to hold peace talks. He said that the jirga also demanded of the government to take practical steps for rehabilitation of affectees in tribal region.
Fazl also made it clear that neither government nor Taliban expressed disagreement on the decisions taken by the tribal jirga.
The JUI-F chief further said that the government should form a strategy and create favorable atmosphere for talks with Taliban. He added that currently there is no dialogue policy visible from the government side.
Talking about the appointment of Lt Gen Raheel Sharif as new army chief, the JUI-F chief said that he hoped that new military leadership will also support these ongoing efforts for peace.
Meanwhile, addressing the businessmen and industrialists in Islamabad, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressed his government’s desire that the peace process with the Taliban should move forward.
The prime minister said that Pakistan had suffered great loss from terrorism.
