Pakistan tribe agrees to hand over Taliban

[March 10, 2009]  KHAR, Pakistan (AP) -- A tribe in a Pakistani region where the military has fought insurgents has agreed to stop sheltering foreign fighters and hand over local Taliban leaders, authorities said. A tribal elder said some militants could be pardoned and freed.

Pakistan has previously signed such pacts with tribes in its northwest regions bordering Afghanistan, but they tend to unravel and spur Western criticism that they give militants time to regroup or create safe havens for them.

But Monday's agreement in the Bajur tribal area came after the army said it had defeated insurgents there after six months of fighting, indicating the government was negotiating from a position of strength.

Bajur is a rumored hiding place of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, and the military offensive there earned praise from American officials concerned that militants use Pakistan as a base from which to plan attacks in Afghanistan.

The 28-point pact was signed with the Mamund tribe, which controls a large swath of Bajur and whose ranks have yielded most of the top leaders of the local Taliban. Shafirullah Khan, the top Bajur government official, told reporters that the tribe also agreed to ban the display of heavy weapons.

Tribal elders have traditionally had massive influence in Pakistan's semiautonomous tribal regions. Al-Qaida and Taliban fighters have decimated the elders' ranks, but the Pakistani government has still relied on tribes to help it overcome militants -- encouraging the rise of tribal militias, for example.

The government also prefers to avoid talking directly to militants, and thus turns to intermediaries including tribal leaders.

Mamund tribal elder Malik Abdul Aziz told reporters Monday that he and his colleagues were in touch with top Bajur Taliban leader Faqir Mohammed and Taliban spokesman Maulvi Umar, and that both had agreed to surrender.

However, Aziz also said the tribe has an "understanding" with the government that those who turn themselves in will be pardoned and let go if the tribe guarantees they will no longer fight.

Khan and other political officials could not immediately be reached to comment on any pardons. Umar also did not answer his phone.

Such a move could bolster critics of the peace pacts. Already, Pakistan has raised international alarm by agreeing to impose Islamic law in the nearby Swat Valley in ongoing peace talks with Taliban fighters there.

In Bajur, the Mamund tribe also agreed to register the area's religious schools, which often are breeding grounds for militants, and to disallow the broadcasting of anti-government propaganda in mosques and other places.

Members of the tribe straddle both sides of the Pakistan-Afghan border, and the elders agreed to monitor the cross-border movement of alleged extremists. They also promised to ensure the safety of foreign and local contractors engaged in development work, Khan said.

A committee has been formed to check on the upkeep of the pact. If the tribe violates the deal, it will face fines, the confiscation of many weapons and "any action" deemed necessary by the government, Khan said.

Late last month, Maj. Gen. Tariq Khan, commander of the paramilitary Frontier Corps, said the insurgency had been "dismantled" in Bajur after six months of battles. He said 1,600 militants had been killed and 150 civilians had died.

[Associated Press; By HABIB KHAN]

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