LANDI KOTAL: A four-member team from the government-sponsored jirga of parliamentarians and tribal elders was dispatched to Dera Ismail Khan on Monday to search for Pashtun Tahafuz Movement’s (PTM) leaders so that negotiations could be resumed, reported a local media outlet.
Member of National Assembly from Khyber Agency, Haji Shahji Gul said, “A three-member PTM delegation sought three days for consultations with their colleagues on April 25 after which they did not approach any member of the jirga, which comprises two elders each from every tribal agency, all tribal parliamentarians, a representative each of federal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments and a leading figure from Malakand division.”
The first round of these talks were conducted in Peshawar on April 18, while the second round was held at Gul’s residence in Jamrud on April 25.
“The four-member delegation of Waziristan elders will first locate the PTM leader and then persuade him to resume parlay with the official jirga,” the MNA added.
Gul also said that the jirga’s meeting on Monday concluded with an agreed and uniform strategy for future contacts with the PTM.
A small delegation of the jirga could travel to Karachi in search of PTM’s leadership, added the MNA.
