PESHAWAR, Oct 10: Tribesmen in Shkai area in the semi-autonomous South Waziristan tribal region on Friday remained locked in consultations ahead of a deadline to turn over Al Qaeda suspects and their native protectors.
Locals reached on telephone told Dawn from Waziristan’s regional headquarters, Wana, that Ahmadzai Wazirs continued their deliberations over the deadline given to them by the administration to hand over the 12 fellow tribesmen accused of sheltering Al Qaeda suspects.
The deadline is expiring today (Saturday).
The locals said a tribal jirga was seriously considering approaching the administration to seek more time. “The accused tribesmen have disappeared and gone into hiding. There is no way we can turn them over to the administration,” a tribal elder said.
The administration in Wana said they wanted to question the accused for giving protection to Al-Qaeda militants and violating the May 11 agreement with the government which said that tribes in South Waziristan would not shelter any foreigner.
Meanwhile, a tribal elder accused the administration of launching the crackdown and arresting his people despite having given them more time to consult.
“They gave us five days to hold a jirga and produce the accused, but then they went about arresting our people as well. This is something never done in the past,” Mirza Alam of Yargulkhel tribe told Dawn.
Mr Alam said his tribe was asked to cooperate with the authorities in demolishing the houses of the accused as per the law of the land. “We said we could not possibly do it.”
South Waziristan Administrator Muhammad Azam Khan told Dawn that the tribes were asking for more time. “We have made it plain to them that there will be no let up in the operation unless they surrender the accused.”
He said his administration had received information about the presence of foreign elements in Shkai area, about 30km to the north of Wana, and the tribes there had been served notices to surrender them as well as their protectors by Saturday.
“We have learnt that they are moving out. We don’t know where and that’s why we want the tribes to come forward and tell us as to who they are and where they came from.”
He warned that the tribes in Shkai would face the same consequences as other fellow tribesmen if they did not yield to the government demand.
On Friday, he said, his administration had sealed 211 shops and impounded more vehicles of the Zalikhel-Qarikhel tribe, besides petrol pumps and commercial plazas, to pressure them to produce the accused. Sixteen more tribesmen were arrested to take the total number of those seized to 54.
The detainees have been moved to the Dera Ismail Khan jail for lack of space in the local prison, an official there said.
A local journalist said the crackdown had caused scare among tribesmen. Traffic on roads had become thin and shops and markets had closed down. Paramilitary scouts and Khasadars continued to patrol the area, he said. “The whole area looks like in a state of siege.”
