|
Islamabad: The Pakistani Government has modified a proposed peace pact with militants in the country's restive northwest to prevent cross-border activities on the frontier with Afghanistan under US pressure, a media report on Sunday said.
The revised draft says the Mehsud tribe, including the Taliban, would not violate Pakistani and Islamic laws "within the country, across the border and abroad", Dawn reported, in an article titled "US pressure' forces changes in pact draft".
"We the Mehsud tribe, including the Taliban, will not violate the laws of Islam and Pakistan within the country, across the border and abroad," a carefully structured new clause in the proposed peace agreement said.
The head of the Pakistani Taliban, Baitullah Mehsud, had said last month that Islam did not recognise borders and waging jihad against foreign occupation forces was obligatory on all Muslims.
Another new clause requires the Mehsud tribe to cough up Rs5 million within two months of signing the peace agreement as payback for the losses suffered by the government both in terms of men and material.
Dawn quoted a senior government official as saying the money would be used to rebuild the Sara Rogha fort.
Hundreds of militants had attacked the British-era fort on the night of January 16, killing 22 paramilitary troopers and taking several others hostage. The only fort located inside the inhospitable Mehsud territory was later virtually razed to the ground.
|
