TIMERGARA, Sept 28: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said on Saturday that tribal jirga could play an important role in the government’s talks with Taliban and it should be taken into confidence in this regard.

He was talking to local journalists in Chakdara after a meeting with the local leaders of his party.

The JUI-F chief said that tribal jirga could not be ignored in the process of negotiations with Taliban. He said that so far neither the government nor the Taliban had contacted him for proceeding of the peace talks. Mr Fazl said that he was ready to play active role in peace building efforts if the government assigned him any such task.

Criticizing Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, he said that wrong policies of the PTI had taken the province to the verge of collapse.

Mr Fazl said that he had informed the prime minister about the worst (law and order) situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “I have told Nawaz Sharif not to leave everything at the mercy of PTI,” he said.

Asked about joining federal government, he said that the JUI-F member would join the federal cabinet at an appropriate time.

About Balochistan government, he said that his party should be taken into confidence as it had a long democratic history in that province. —Correspondent