WANA, April 20: Denying that Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden had ever visited South Waziristan region, a top militant commander, who spearheaded the campaign to expel Uzbek militants from the area, on Friday said he and his fellow tribal militants would give Osama protection in accordance with tribal customs and traditions if he ever came to the area.

“I have not met Osama bin Laden, Ayman Al Zawahiri or Mulla Omar. Osama never came here, but if he comes here and lives in accordance with our law, customs and traditions, then we will give him protection because we always support the oppressed,” Mullah Nazir told a group of journalists in South Waziristan’s regional headquarters.

The 32-year-old militant commander, who had fought against the Northern Alliance in Takkhar and Kunduz during the days of the Taliban, said he had the dual citizenship of Pakistan and Afghanistan and owned some land in Kandahar province.

He said it was by virtue of this that he was participating in what he called the “Jihad” against the United States in Afghanistan. He claimed that the Taliban were not interfering in Pakistan and that only those tribesmen who had their land and blood relations across the border, were taking part in the Afghan insurgency.

He said that the Taliban leadership was confined to Afghanistan and they were not meddling in Pakistan’s affairs.

Mullah Nazir also denied the visit to Wana by senior Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah to help mediate a truce with Uzbek militants.

He, however, said that Khalifa Sirajuddin Haqqani had visited the region to facilitate the safe exit of the Uzbek militants and to resolve the issue in accordance with Sharia.

Khalifa Siraj’s efforts, however, failed due to what he called the intransigence and refusal of Uzbek commander Qari Tahir Yaldashev to settle the issue according to Sharia.

He said the leader of Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan might have been killed along with 150 to 200 Uzbek militants but acknowledged that he could not verify his death.

“Some Uzbeks were overheard crying over the death of their leader but this could not be verified,” Mullah Nazir said.

He said at least two senior Uzbek militant commanders -- Mufti Abu Bakar and Abdur Rehman Toopchi -- had been killed in clashes with the tribal Lashkar.

He put the casualty figure of local tribal volunteers and militants killed in the campaign against Uzbek militants at 25.

The militant commander said that he had asked the Uzbek militants to surrender or leave the Wana region due to their involvement in what he called un-Islamic acts including the killing of innocent tribesmen, kidnappings and robberies.