LANDI KOTAL (Khyber Agency), Aug 16: Tribal elders from Jamrud, Bara and Landi Kotal tehsils of Khyber Agency have offered their services for direct talks with Taliban leaders both in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Talking to Dawn on Thursday, Malik Ahmad Khan said nobody can deny the role of the Taliban in restoring peace both in Afghanistan and the tribal belt of Pakistan, adding that the Taliban were a major player in this conflict.

Mr Khan, who was also a member of the Kabul Peace jirga, said if the government of Pakistan could hold talks with India to resolve the Kashmir issue, why couldn’t it initiate a dialogue process with the Taliban who are our Muslim brothers.

Expressing satisfaction over the outcome of the Kabul Jirga, he urged the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan to continue the process of jirga.

He said that at least 50 elders of the Khyber Agency were ready to open peace talks with the Taliban leadership.

Another jirga member, Malik Guli Shah, said that the moot had cleared the air of mistrust between the two countries. He hoped that its decisions would be implemented in letter and spirit.

He said that the majority of Afghans and Pakistanis had little faith in official jirgas and that was why they had offered the formation of an independent jirga of tribal elders. He said that if allowed to proceed with the plan, the tribal jirga would be free from all sorts of pressure and influence.

He said that the tribal people were interested in restoring peace to their region and Afghanistan and thus there was no harm in initiating a dialogue with the Taliban leadership.

Both Malik Ahmad Khan and Malik Guli Shah said that they were in touch with the elders of other tribal agencies to persuade them to join their proposed “peace jirga”.