KOHAT, Dec 22: The tribal elders and ulema belonging to Sadda tehsil of Kurram Agency, a border area 190km west of here, have agreed to help the army in arresting the seven Al-Qaeda members, who escaped last week, on the condition that they would not be handed over to the United States.

The political agent of Kurram Agency, Sherzada Khan, Commandant Kurram Militia and commanding officer of the four wings, while briefing newsmen at Sadda on Saturday, said seven of the Al-Qaeda members who fled the other day were still at large. They said in separate meetings with the elders and ulema of the area, where the Arab fugitives might be hiding, the people had assured the authorities of all help in arresting the Al-Qaeda members.

The representatives of local elders, Malik Askar Ali Shah, Malik Iqbal Hussain and Mohammad Yaqoob and religious leader Maulana Sher Mohammad of JUI, while accepting the request, asked for guarantees that the Arabs would not be handed over to the US or interrogated by the foreigners in any condition.

The political agent accepted the condition and requested the tribal elders to send teams to various parts of Khoedad Khel, Aarawali and Mandal areas to arrest the Arabs.

The authorities admitted that despite frantic efforts they had been unable to locate the five Arabs. That was why they had decided to seek help from the locals.

They also asked the maliks to immediately inform the administration about any information regarding the presence of Arabs in any house or any tribe providing shelter to them. They promised a huge reward to the tribe, which would arrest the Arabs or provide information leading to the arrest of the missing Al-Qaeda members.

It may be recalled that 48 Al-Qaeda members out of 156, who were being transported to Kohat from Parachinar, escaped from one of the trucks after killing seven Pakistani guards. Six of the Al-Qaeda members were also killed on the spot. Two were arrested two days later whereas one was shot and killed in the mountains during an army operation.

The army had sealed all routes leading out of the area where the incident occurred and were conducting raids on the houses of suspected people.

Independent sources told Dawn that in fact nine members of the Al-Qaeda were still missing.

Meanwhile, security in Kohat and Kurram Agency had been tightened. In Kohat, where 139 Al-Qaeda members had been lodged in the central prison, commandos and army troops had been deployed to avoid any untoward incident.

It is learnt that the Al-Qaeda members would be shifted to Peshawar and Islamabad in small groups by the army and till then foreign intelligence teams would interrogate them in Kohat.

About eight members of Al-Qaeda were already in Islamabad and being interrogated by US intelligence officers to gather information about the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden, Mulla Omar and other members of the network in other countries.