Brig (R) Nazir Ahmed, a member of the FATA supreme council, said that deadlock persisted and there was no headway in talks. “We have shared our concerns with the prime minister and have asked him to take concrete measures before FATA mainstreaming bill. A source said that the FATA supreme council had shared its reservations against mainstreaming plan of FATA, and its members had insisted on keeping FATA a separate identity. FATA supreme council is considered to be a body with close linkages to the JUI-F chief which has been opposing FATA’s merger with KP. Last week, after a meeting between FATA supreme council and JUI-F’s Ameer of Fata chapter Mufti Abdul Shakoor, the council had dubbed the merger proposal as “US plan”.

Source: Pakistan Today December 20, 2017 18:56 UTC