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| Militants, govt sign truce in N Waziristan |
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Sunday, September 03, 2006
MIRAMSHAH: Pro-Taliban militants encouraged by tribal elders signed an agreement with the Pakistan government on Saturday to ensure “permanent peace” in this volatile north-western tribal region near the Afghan border, intelligence officials said.
Under the agreement, which is likely to be unveiled by the government next week, no militant will attack government officials or security forces, and in return the Army deployed in North Waziristan “will not carry out operations against them,” said an area intelligence official on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.
“This is a good development because the Taliban have promised to stay away from militancy,” said the official, adding “the Taliban have also agreed to distance themselves from foreign militants”.
The official gave no further details, but a second area intelligence official — who also didn’t want to be named because of sensitive nature of the issue — said the accord was signed at a seminary near Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan where the military has carried out several operations against militants in recent years.
Residents have welcomed the ceasefire and urged the government to take steps for lasting peace.
Although no other details about Saturday’s accord were immediately available, militants in the past have demanded the release of their associates arrested after the Sept 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.
They have also asked the government to abolish military checkpoints in North Waziristan.
Pakistan has deployed more than 80,000 troops in the country’s tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.
Our Peshawar bureau adds: Earlier, members of the Loya Jirga constituted with government’s blessings to peacefully end the conflict in the North Waziristan tribal agency on Saturday signed a document containing the major decisions that they have reached after days of deliberations in Miranshah.
However, the Jirga members said they would make the document public only after it was signed by relevant government officials and tribal militants. They expected the signing of the agreement on the agreed document to take place in the next few days. They expressed the hope that the agreement would secure durable peace in North Waziristan.
The 45-member Loya Jirga has held a number of meetings with NWFP Governor Lt-Gen (retd) Ali Mohammad Jan Orakzai and other government officials and the leaders of the militants. Both sides had earlier given “Wak” (authority) to the Jirga by agreeing to accept its verdict. The Jirga had mediated the release of more than 140 tribesmen on the demand of the militants and secured freedom for four personnel of the paramilitary Frontier Corps held by the militants. A batch of 13 tribesmen was freed by the government Friday to raise the total of freed tribal prisoners to 143. The government had also dismantled some road checkpoints on the intervention of the Jirga.
On Saturday, most of the Jirga members met at the VIP Circuit House in the FC Fort in Miranshah, headquarters of North Waziristan, and penned their signatures to the document. The assistant political officer for Miranshah, Iqbal Khattak, was also present on the occasion. The Jirga members declined to provide details of their decisions by reminding reporters that they were required to maintain secrecy until it is decided to make the document public. The Jirga members would stay on in Miranshah until the signing ceremony of the agreement.
Some of the hurdles in reaching an agreement were the militants’ demand for withdrawal of Pakistan Army troops from North Waziristan, payment of compensation for human and material losses suffered by the tribesmen including those associated with the militant groups, return of weapons and vehicles seized by the government, and dismantling of all road checkpoints. They also want freedom for the remaining tribesmen, totalling more than a dozen.
Though the government officials and Loya Jirga members were tightlipped about the terms of the proposed agreement, it was learnt that foreign militants hiding in North Waziristan would be given the option to stay there under protection of the tribes after furnishing guarantees of good conduct. Pakistani tribesmen travelling across the Durand Line border to Afghanistan would be allowed to go there for business and peaceful purposes only. No local tribesman would be allowed to enter Afghanistan with the intent to attack US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan. The Pakistan Army soldiers, it was learnt, would not man checkpoints and instead operate out of their bases and barracks whenever such a need was felt. The militants would be compensated for their human and material losses and their remaining colleagues would be released.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
