Pakistan's frontier tribes join peace talks

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, July 20 (Reuters) Hundreds of Pakistani tribesmen held talks today with military and government officials to halt fighting between security forces and al Qaeda and pro-Taliban militants near the Afghan border.

The meetings of the tribal jirgas or councils are seen as part of government's latest strategy to use political means to restore peace in the semi-autonomous tribal belt where hundreds of people have been killed in battles over the past three years.

Around 300 tribesmen and clerics met with military and civil officials in the restive North Waziristan tribal region and called for talks to end violence.

''We have been saying all along that this problem cannot be resolved through bullet, but only through negotiations,'' Maulana Nek Zaman, a hardline cleric and lawmaker, told the jirga.

Fakhar-e-Alam Irfan, the top government administrator in North Waziristan, appealed to the tribesmen to support the government's efforts to restore peace.

He also announced release of 32 tribesmen detained during the fighting.

''Both of us have suffered difficulties and we should work together to mitigate these problems,'' he told the jirga.

North Waziristan has been the scene of fierce battles between the security forces and the militants over the past one year.

Officials in North Waziristan estimate more than 300 militants, including 75 foreigners, have been killed since mid-2005, when the army switched its hunt for al Qaeda from the neighbouring South Waziristan.

The militants last month announced a month-long ceasefire to allow tribal elders to work out how to end the conflict.

Meanwhile, another jirga was held in Damadola village in the more northerly Bajaur tribal region where a missile strike by a CIA drone aircraft hit a meeting of al Qaeda members in January.

U S intelligence officials at the time believed Ayman al-Zawahri, Osama bin Laden's deputy, might attend the gathering but Pakistani officials said he did not turn up.

At the jirga, the tribesmen called for the release of prisoners detained during the crackdown and assured help in restoring calm in the region.

REUTERS MQA HT2040