Peshawar, Nov 19 : The NWFP government has reportedly set laying down of arms as the foremost condition for peace talks with the Swat-based Taliban.

According to official sources, the condition was presented before members of a Kanjoo Peace Jirga, who met members of the NWFP Assembly from Swat district at the Frontier House to discuss a possible truce in the valley.

The peace jirga, led by Inamur Rehman, informed the MPAs that the Taliban were ready for ‘unconditional’ talks with the government and that their chief [Fazlullah] would abide by the decisions of the jirga, the Daily Times quote the sources as saying.

Peshawar, Nov. 18 : Foreign journalists covering news in Pakistan''s Peshwar city may find it increasingly difficult to work in the coming days, as there is a growing threat to their lives from extremists, states a Daily Times report.

Peshawar, Nov 18: After Pakistan’s Tribal Areas (FATA) and Balochistan province, Peshawar, the NWFP capital, too has become an off-limit area for foreign journalists working in the country. This was demonstrated by Friday’s incident wherein a couple of armed Taliban men made an unsuccessful bid to kidnap Afghan journalist Sami Yousafzai, reported the Daily Times.

The scribe is presently recuperating in a hospital with multiple bullet wounds in various parts of his body.

Peshawar, Nov 17 : Pakistan government is learnt to have given a shoot-to-kill order for those trying to disrupt the NATO supplies to Afghanistan. The order comes in the wake of recent incidents whereby insurgents hijacked as many 15 trucks loaded with supplies for NATO and American forces in Afghanistan, though they were later recovered.

The vehicles will henceforth be escorted by security officials to help them pass through Khyber Agency in a convoy, the Daily Times quoted a senior Pakistan government official as saying.

Peshawar (Pakistan), Nov. 17: American and NATO troops deployed in war-ravaged Afghanistan faced an unexpected crisis on Sunday after Pakistan temporarily stopped oil tankers and container trucks from passing through a key passageway into the a country, threatening a critical supply route and raising more fears about security in the region.

Peshawar, Nov 16 : Security forces in Pakistan have been unsuccessful in finding clues about the kidnapped Afghan and Iranian diplomats, besides a host of foreign nationals in the country.

Security personnel raided various parts of the city and its surroundings to recover the kidnapped Iranian diplomat Hashmatullah Attarzadeh. A few people were also arrested and quizzed but no clue was found, The News quoted sources as saying.

According to the paper, there was tremendous pressure on the police and other law-enforcement agencies to take early steps for the recovery of the third secretary and commercial attache of the Iranian Consulate in Peshawar.