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Qabail party seeks role in peace talks

By Our Correspondent 2014-02-15
KOHAT: Mutahidda Qabail Party (MQP) has demanded representation in the government`s committee for negotiations with the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

MQP vice-president Haji Habib Noor Afridi told a press conference here on Friday that the tribesmen could successfully handle the talks because jirga and talks were primarily the culture in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).

He argued that talks were being held with TTP which belonged to the North Waziristan, South Waziristan and Orakzai agencies where people had given sacrifice of thousands of their loved ones and were literally rendered homeless.

He said that tribesmen of these agencies were the major stakeholders in the peace process. He said that over 10 million tribesmen had been guarding the western borders from last several decades without claiming any salary.

Mr Afridi said that tribesmen were not against vaccination and they were in fact providing security to the polio teams visiting Fata.

Meanwhile, the district administration decided on Friday to take strict action against officials who would refuse to participate in the anti-polio vaccination cam-paign in Kohat district.

At a meeting held in this regard, deputy commissioner Amjid Ali Khan promised better security to the health staff in sensitive areas during the three-day anti-polio vaccination campaign, starting from Feb 24.

Besides, action has been suggested against parents resisting vaccination of their children.

ANTI-ENCROACHMENT DRIVE: Anti-encroachment drive in the main bazaar, Kohat, has been completed for the first time amid hue and cry of business community.

The campaign was supervised by assistant commissioner Farrukh Atique and the tehsil municipal officer.

Encroachments were removed with the help of excavators, broadening space for vehicles. Local people are also demanding removal of electricity poles, some of them in the middle of bazaar road, to remove impediments to pedestrians and traffic.

The municipality staff had earlier removed sheds of shops, which were extended outwards by five to six feet.

The businessmen would place items of their shops under those sheds, exceeding the two feet limit. During the three-day drive the TMA demolished all such encroachments by traders, offices and hotels.

However, handcarts dotting the old jail road could not be removed because no alternative place has been found so far for the venders.

Also, most of the Afghan refugees are still running temporary stalls on the footpaths.