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Pak provincial govt vows to keep up talks with militants

AFP, Peshawar
The government of North West Frontier Province on Monday vowed to continue a peace dialogue with militants but said it would keep the option of force as last resort, officials said.
Taliban warlord Baitullah Mehsud last week asked the provincial government to resign in five days or be ready for attacks, accusing it of failing to keep up promises made in peace agreements. But the government remained undeterred.
Mehsud, the chief of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, is accused by Islamabad of plotting the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in December. He denies the accusation.
"We are not going to quit government under any circumstances
and with the will of Allah and the people's mandate, will complete the five-year term," North West Frontier Province information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain told reporters after a cabinet meeting.
" No armed group can impose its will on the government. We will deal with this threat and face it sternly," Hussain said.
"Our first option is to resolve all disputes through negotiations and jirgas (tribal peace councils) and use force only as a last resort if the other side indulges in violence,” he said.
"We are ready to take any threat head on and fight it, we will not be cowed down."
Hussain said the government was planning to launch peace awareness campaigns, set up district level peace committees and enlist volunteers to help promote the initiative.
Hussain admitted the security situation was not "ideal" but said the government's policy of negotiation was geared to ensure peace for the people of the restive province bordering Afghanistan.
He said the government was still abiding by the peace agreement in northwestern Swat valley and militants should remember that the deadlines set for meeting their demands had not yet passed.
He said under the agreement the government had released 19 militants from a list of 60 and others will be freed after legal formalities.
Hussain said the government had still two months left for the imposition of 1999 Sharia regulations under the Swat peace agreement and added the military would be withdrawn once the agreement is respected.