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| 26 March 2004 | Friday | 04 Safar 1425 |
Tribal leaders told to hand over suspects: Minister warns of large-scale operation
ISLAMABAD, March 25: The government on Thursday again warned tribal leaders to hand over suspected terrorists and their protectors at the earliest to avoid a large-scale security operation in the tribal area.
Talking to reporters in his chamber at the Parliament House, Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat hinted at the possibility of launching of a large-scale military operation in tribal areas which could bring more destruction and casualties.
"So far we have been following the policy of minimum use of force," he said and added that the government had started shifting civilian population, particularly women and children, to safer places.
"We want to circumvent mass-scale destruction in the area and are trying to resolve the issue through the tribal jirga system," the minister said. Without giving any specific timeframe, Mr Hayat said the government would go to the last extent to find out a solution to the problem without the use of force.
"We want to give them full opportunity. We are fully equipped and prepared but do not want to create hardships and miseries for the people of the area." The minister said three main terrorists responsible for recent incidents of terrorism in Quetta and Wana had been arrested.
He said the three men - Nek Mohammad, Noorul Islam and Haji Mohammad Sharif - were part of a network involved in several terrorism incidents in the country and were also behind a recent ambush on troops.
The government, he said, knew that a conventional type of operation could cause a lot of bloodshed in the area. "It is because of our policy of the use of minimum force that security agencies personnel had to suffer a huge loss of lives and equipment," Mr Hayat said.
He said there were 500 to 600 terrorists hiding in Wana and so far the security forces had succeeded in arresting 163 of them. The government has information that a large number of Arabs and Uzbeks were operating from South Waziristan agency for acts inside and outside the country, he said.
The ministers said terrorists had kidnapped 12 people, including 10 personnel of the Frontier Corps. He said the government had extended the deadline set until Thursday night for the tribesmen to hand over the wanted terrorists mentioned in a list, and also asked them to hand over those who had provided shelter to the foreign terrorists.
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