Hundreds of tribesmen from Pakistan's semiautonomous regions near the Afghan border ended a rare tribal council meeting with a declaration calling for the army to crush the Taliban referring to the humanitarian operations in Sri Lanka against the terrorist outfit, LTTE.

"It should be a genuine military operation like the Sri Lankans did against the Tamil Tigers," said Sayd Alam Mehsud, a powerful tribal leader, a report released by AP appeared in The Star said.

"If we do not address the mindset of the terrorists, we will not be able to eliminate terrorists," Mehsud further said.

A declaration at the end of the meeting called democracy vital to rooting out terrorism. "A sapling of terrorism cannot grow in democracy. Any attempt to derail democracy is like letting the terrorists walk all over us," the declaration said.

The meeting, held in the northwestern city of Peshawar, was called by an umbrella group of aid organizations and political parties in an effort to bring together people from the violence-battered region.

Participants called for the army to escalate its attack against the network of Islamist militants across the tribal regions.

Tribal councils - or "jirgas" - play a central role in the Pashtun culture that dominates the region along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. These often-lawless regions, havens for al-Qaida and Taliban fighters, have been the scene of bloody fighting and regular attacks by American drone aircraft as the Pakistani and U.S. governments try to defeat the Islamist militants. Smaller council meetings are used in tribal areas to decide matters ranging from local administration to criminal cases.

While Saturday's meeting was not a formal jirga, it is rare to have so many tribal leaders gather together.

Syed Alam Mehsud said the meeting was a way to bring together people from the area that is suffering most in Islamabad's war against the militants.

"We have just tried to unite people for the sake of peace," he said.
The tribal leaders urged the government in Pakistan to reach out to the militants - but also to crush those unwilling to negotiate.

(Courtesy: The Star)