LAHORE, Feb 23: Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the JUI-F chief, said on Saturday that a grand jirga constituted by tribes of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas wanted to meet national leaders in order to have their support for peace efforts in Fata.

“During (the proposed) meeting with the political leadership, the jirga will discuss proposals for bringing peace to Fata,” the JUI-F leader told newsmen after meeting the Jamaat-i-Islami leadership at Mansoora.

He visited Mansoora to condole the death of former Jamaat chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad.

He invited the JI leadership to an all-party conference (APC) being organised by his party in Islamabad on Feb 28 to discuss ways for restoring peace in Fata.

Maulana Fazl said law and order was the biggest issue in the country and Fata was on fire. Houses were being razed and innocent people were being killed in drone attacks, he added.

“If the national leadership did not take (corrective) steps, someone else might take the lead for vested interest,” he warned.

He said his party wanted to bring peace to Fata and urged the political leadership to come forward and join hands with it.

Speaking on the occasion, JI Amir Syed Munawar Hasan said that his party would attend the APC.

He said the prevailing situation called for a decisive dialogue with the Taliban. He said the government’s attitude ignoring the Taliban’s offer and taking it as a sign of weakness was a worst example of indifference.

In reply to a question, he said the JI had recommended the name of Justice (retd) Nasir Aslam Zahid for the post of caretaker prime minister. Now it was up to Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan to meet Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and form the caretaker set-up as soon as possible, he said.