Negotiation through a broker peace committee was underway to save the peace deal between the government and tribal elders in Pakistan's North Waziristan, newspapers reported Tuesday.
Tribal elders enjoying government support started approaching North Waziristan tribals Monday, a day after the local armed tribals on Sunday unilaterally announced scrapping the peace agreement following deployment of troops at various checkpoints in the region.
Leading member of the committee Maulana Nek Zaman said the government had tasked the peace committee to engage commanders of the armed tribals in negotiations to keep the 10-month-long agreement intact, the DAWN newspaper reported.
Under the peace deal reached in September 2006, the government agreed to withdraw the checkpoints in North Waziristan and return weapons seized during operations to armed tribals, while the tribal people agreed to expel foreign militants out and halt infiltration into Afghanistan of local fighters and stop attacking troops, reports said.
Signing peace deal with tribal people is considered to be holistic strategy of anti-terrorism in the tribal region, through which the government aims to restore peace in the region and curtail illegal cross-border movement of fighters.
Officials said the armed tribals, who prefer being called Pakistani Taliban, were responsible for failing to honor the agreement, as escalating attacks on security forces were observed in the region.
After a spate of attacks on troops, authorities last week deployed the army and paramilitary forces at checkpoints in North Waziristan, which had irritated the local armed tribals.
Talking to reporters in Miranshah, Maulana Nek Zaman Monday said the government should dismantle some of the road checkpoints that were unnecessary and compensate the victims of earlier military operations in the troubled tribal region, according to The News.
He added that the local armed tribals, should not rush into judgment and instead show tolerance so that the peace agreement remains intact.
Source: Xinhua
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