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| 15 March 2004 | Monday | 23 Muharram 1425 |
Pressure stepped up on tribesmen
WANA, March 14: Authorities in the South Waziristan tribal region have slapped a string of punitive actions on tribesmen to force them into handing over people suspected of sheltering and supporting Al Qaeda militants.
The actions, which will be officially conveyed on Monday to the Yargulkhel and Karmazkhel tribes - the hard-lined sub-tribes of the Zalikhel tribe - include a Rs50,000 fine per day for a period of seven days, failing which the already sealed commercial property of the tribes would be demolished.
The action would be repeated every seventh day till the time the tribes hand over five wanted tribesmen, an official said here on Sunday. Show-cause notices for dismissal from service were also being issued to employees of various government departments functioning in South Waziristan who happen to be close relatives of the wanted tribesmen, the official said.
Payment of their salaries has already been stopped as part of the punitive actions taken under the collective responsibility clause of the Frontier Crimes Regulation.
"This is part of our overall strategy to pressurize these tribes into handing over suspects and expelling foreign militants," South Waziristan administrator Azam Khan said.
"There is going to be no let-up. It will take some time but it will work." "Consultations among tribes are taking too much time. We hope that these measures would speed up the process and enable them to act decisively and promptly," he said.
The latest measures were prompted by an early morning jirga of the Zalikhel tribes at Azam Warsak where a 10-member team that had gone to find the whereabouts of five suspects, informed the gathering that the wanted men had gone into hiding.
"We looked for them in their houses and hideouts but they were not there. But be sure we are going to find them wherever they are," Saeed Khan, who heads the lashkar of his own sub-tribe said.
The jirga, however, gave two days to the Yargulkhel and Karmazkhel tribes to hand over the wanted men. The jirga would meet again at the same venue on Tuesday to take stock of the situation and decide its future course of action, a tribal elder said.
Authorities are exerting pressure on tribes to hand over Haji Sharif, his brother Noor Islam, Nek Mohammad, Maulvi Abbas and Maulvi Aziz. Two parliamentarians from the South Waziristan Agency, Maulana Abdul Malik and Maulana Mirajuddin, also have a meeting with administrator Azam Khan and discussed the current situation.
"They were told that the only solution to the matter is the surrender of the protectors and their foreign guests," an official said. "We want this issue to be resolved peacefully and through consultations. This is a sensitive matter and should be dealt with carefully," Maulana Abdul Malik told Dawn after the meeting.
One of the wanted tribesmen, Nek Mohammad, had earlier told a foreign radio that he was moving to Afghanistan to wage a jihad against the United States. "I have nothing against Pakistan. I am loyal to my country but I am going to fight a jihad against the United States," he is reported to have told the radio.
But witnesses and officials in Wana said Nek Mohammad was seen travelling in a double-cabin pickup along with four of his bodyguards hours after he made the announcement. "He was seen moving in the direction of Zalai, 40km west of Wana close to the border," they said.
OPERATION PUT OFF: The tribal elders in South Waziristan on Sunday postponed an operation against the local tribesmen suspected of harbouring Taliban and Al Qaeda fugitives till March 16, a private TV channel reported, adds dpa.
"The elders, who met in a jirga decided to postpone the operation by a tribal lashkar till March 16," the channel quoted an unnamed tribal leader as saying.
"This may be a negotiation technique that the jirga extended the deadline of operation till March 16," military spokesman Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan told dpa. But extension does not mean we should launch a military search operation the next moment," he said.
Maj-Gen Sultan said operation could be launched whenever it was required but refused to give a deadline. "I think it will be in the interest of the absconders to surrender before the jirga," he said.
"The government has announced a set of concessions for those who will surrender voluntarily... and I think they should avail of this opportunity," Maj-Gen Sultan said. He, however, added that paramilitary and army troops stand ready to launch an operation if these people do not surrender before the jirga.
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