PESHAWAR: The opposition in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly provided a face-saving way out to the ruling coalition on Monday by unanimously adopting a resolution asking the federal government to stop drone attacks and Nato supplies.

After more than five hours of intense politicking and closeddoor meetings between leaders of the two sides when the assembly session started the treasury and opposition agreed on a draft which set Nov 20 deadline for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to develop national consensus on a line of action.

`This assembly unanimously demands that the prime minister immediately hold a meeting to consult national leaders and adopt a course of action to continue (peace) negotiations and evolve actionable recommendations for stopping drone attacks and Nato supplies,` the resolution said.

`If this remains unfulfilled by Nov 20 we would be free to adopt our own future line of action.

The resolution appears to be an attempt by the two sides to postpone the matter because the provincial government had been advised by its legal brains to avoid taking a tough stance on the issue which came under the federal government`s purview.

The advocate general of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, according to members of the assembly, advised the treasury benches that issuing an executive order by the provincial government for stopping Nato supplies would be against the constitution.

The resolution acknowledged Pakistan`s longstanding stance against drone attacks and recalled resolutions adopted by parliament in2008and2011insupportof peace negotiations.

`Pakistan, from day one, has been terming American drone strikes as an attack on its sovereignty and it has always condemned theseattacks and recorded its protest, but the US continued the strikes by ignoring Pakistan`s protests, as a result of which thousands of men, women, children and elderly and army personnel embraced martyrdom,` it said.

`In 2008 and 2011, parliament`s joint resolutions emphasised the need for peace negotiations and during these years a total of 350 drone attacks were carried out as a result of which terrorism was strengthened, Pakistan succumbed to economic deterioration and our peace was shattered.

It acknowledged that a `Loya Jirga` convened by the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam in Islamabad had assured tribal leaders that efforts would be made to hold an all-party conference which would extend cooperation in efforts to restore peace through a negotiated settlement.

It noted that the federalgovernment had adopted a policy to bring peace to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas through talks. In this respect, the prime minister convened a conference of leaders of all parliamentary parties that gave him the mandate and chalked out a mechanism for talks with militant organisations.

`Internal peace is Pakistan`s domestic issue and this right has been acknowledged at the international level. According to the federal interior minister, America had also held out an assurance that it would not carry out drone strikes during the talks.

`Despite that a drone attack took place exactly at a time when attempts for negotiations had entered a resultoriented phase and America, under a conspiracy, conducted a drone strike because of which peace negotiations received a setback.