More success for the governments operation in Wana, as now even the recalcitrant tribes are falling in line, and pledging to kick out the foreign terrorists. At the same time they are telling the MMA parties to keep out of their affairs. :k: :k:
Senior FATA elders on Saturday addressed a grand jirga and warned political parties, especially the MMA’s component party Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), from meddling in tribal affairs, APP reported. They disregarded the JI set-up jirga, calling it an abortive attempt to malign patriotic tribesmen. The Zalikhel sub-tribe have asked Al Qaeda suspects and their tribal supporters to surrender to the government and leave South Waziristan. “Today, we decided to expel Al Qaeda from Waziristan,” Malik Bostan of the Zalikhel tribe told Daily Times from Wana after a jirga of the tribe. Five tribesmen accused of sheltering Al Qaeda suspects belong to the Zalikhel tribe.
However, Mr Bostan said Al Qaeda’s expulsion was more important than the surrender of the five wanted men, which he called a “secondary consideration”. “First, we need to get rid of Al Qaeda because by doing so we can save our areas from military operations and destruction,” the tribal leader said. “We will chase the wanted men also but first things first, we have to act against Al Qaeda,” he said and called on the Ahmedzai tribe also to join the Zalikhels to purge Waziristan of Al Qaeda. However, a tribal elder from the Ahmedzai tribe was not optimistic about Malik Bostan’s call for a larger tribal lashkar to fight Al Qaeda. “The problem is within the Zalikhels. If they cannot put their house in order, we cannot help them.” “The Zalikhels should make a move and then if we see that they need other tribes’ help then we will help them,” the Ahmedzai tribal told Daily Times on the phone from Wana on condition of anonymity. A team of Zalikhel tribesmen is likely to meet NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah in Peshawar on Monday to discuss the situation in Waziristan. “We will take up the Ahmedzai tribe’s support during our meeting with the governor,” Mr Bostan said.
During the Zalikhel jirga on Saturday, a 300-man lashkar was formed and three sub-tribes of the Zalikhel – Sheikh Bazeed, Utmankhel and Kakakhel – contributed to the tribal armed group. Meanwhile, witnesses said around 70 shops were burnt when a missile explosion caused a fire in a weapons market in Azam Warsak. There were reports of three men getting injured in the explosion. They said the market was the main source of weapons for Afghan mujahideen during the Russian invasion. “It’s not clear what caused the explosion but some people say it happened when weapons were being loaded in a pick-up,” people from the area told Daily Times. Meanwhile, Al Qaeda supporters distributed pamphlets in Wana calling on soldiers to revolt against President Pervez Musharraf for fighting a “proxy war” on behalf of the United States. The elders and clerics hailing from the Mehsud tribe in Southern Waziristan vowed to flush out foreign militants from the area, saying any tribesman providing sanctuary to Al Qaeda or Taliban suspects would be handed over to the political administration. Talking to reporters at the jirga hall in Tank, the tribal elders warned the locals against providing refuge to suspected militants.
The moment he said that Jirga would support armed operation in the entire tribal belt ,a number of elders from other agencies started roaring which was followed by their open criticism on the text of the resolution. They accused that the resolution had been sent in written form by the governor representatives and there could be no question of supporting it, adding that all tribals were utterly opposed to direct military operation in FATA without the prior consent of local elders. In the meantime, a tribal elder from Khyber Agency, Zahir Shah, stood up and started criticism on the Jirga members. Using harsh words for the members, he said since the whole Jirga was paid handsome amount as bribe to support the government actions, they had no right to make decisions about the destinies of the ordinary people of tribal areas. He said though he was against Taliban, Al-Qaeda and their local sympathizers, however, he added it did not mean the government touts in the garb of elders should allow forces to bring destruction in tribal region.
Also did you read what what Waziristans political agent said about what the supposed “anti Pakistani jahil” terrorists are doing:
*Some of these elements were cultivated both by the government and the clergy to fight the previous Afghan war. For 20-24 years the locals were requested, pressured, cajoled, rewarded, sermonized to help, aid and shelter these people. A whole generation has grown up since then. It’s not a uni-dimensional problem for me to give you a one-liner as a solution. *
There are at least 6000 tribal fighters formed to go after the remaining foreign terrorists, and thousands of others are forming similar militias. The government’s operation has certainly spurred these people into action. :k: Here is another news item on this:-
Parties warned against meddling in tribal affairs
Expressing complete disregard for Jamaat-e-Islami-sponsored so-called tribal Jirga, leading tribal leaders from all the agencies on Saturday warned political parties especially the JI against meddling in their affairs. Addressing a grand Jirga, the tribal leaders expressed strong resentment over the holding of pseudo Jirga by Jamaat-e-Islami and described it an abortive attempt to malign the patriotic tribesmen. The Jirga gave an ultimatum to Ahmedzai and Zallikhel Wazir tribes to surrender the five most wanted tribesmen to the combined tribal Jirga by April 10, failing which the tribal Lashkar would come into action. They also urged the concerned tribes to purge their areas of foreign nationals including Chechens, Uzbeks and Arabs within a month. A unanimous resolution adopted on the occasion said the all-tribal agencies Jirga has complete respect and regard for government policies and resolved that tribal people would remain loyal to Pakistan and not allow anybody to use its soil for their nefarious designs. The tribesmen are peace loving, patriotic people and true followers of Islam, it added. “We understand that foreign elements who have taken refuge in the tribal areas in the name of Islam and jihad in fact want to use our soil for their personal political ends. They are neither sincere to Islam nor to Pakistan and Muslim Ummah,” the resolution added. It further stated that these people had come to implement their agenda by resorting to violence and terrorism to which the tribesmen were averse. “We cannot tolerate them anymore on our soil, and in this connection, we fully support the endeavours of the government. We demand of the government to purge the tribal areas of such unwanted elements by launching an operation. The tribesmen would support the government in this regard”.
The resolution further observed that the tribal Jirga viewed the growing political interference in tribal regions with concern and hate. “We have kept our areas clean from politics and would do so in future as well. We want to resolve our problems through our own traditions and customs and are against all kinds of interference by the political parties”. This grand Jirga completely disowns the ongoing tribal Jirga in Peshawar and views it as a show of a particular political party, which has no concern with tribal people, the resolution added. There is no representation of Fata in the JI-sponsored Jirga in Peshawar and all the participants are non-tribal. In fact, it is a gathering of non-tribal people, it added. Expressing great resentment over the proceedings at the JI’s gathering, the resolution warned the non-tribal people to keep their hands off from the affairs of Fata. “We the people of Fata have the guts to address our problems and scuttle any political interference,” it concluded. Earlier, leading tribal elders former state minister Malik Waris Khan Afridi, former senator Nawabzada Inayatullah Khan, Malik Muhammad Ali and Malik Ayaz Khan from Mohmand Agency addressed the Jirga.
The tribal leaders said the tribesmen are proud of their centuries-old traditions and customs and would not allow the foreign elements to bring misnomer to the tribal areas. They said the wanted elements must benefit from the amnesty announced by the governor NWFP that in case of voluntary surrender the accused would not be extradited to any third country. They vowed not to allow politicking in their areas as the Political Parties Act had not been extended to Fata, therefore, politicians are urged to refrain from poking their nose in Fata. The tribal elders while dissociating themselves from the JI’s sponsored so-called tribal Jirga in Peshawar described it as a gathering of non-tribal people. They urged Amir Jamaat-e-Islami not to make political point scoring at the expense of tribesmen. Replying to a question by a reporter, tribal leader former Senator Nawabzada Inayatullah Khan said it comes under the territorial responsibility that the most wanted elements should be handed over to the combined tribal Jirga by the local tribesmen. He said the tribesmen have full faith and confidence in the commitments made by the government with the tribal people with regard to Wana operation. In reply to another query, he said in fact it was the MMA, which, compromised on its principles for grabbing power. “There is no role for Mulla in a tribal society,” he maintained. Munir Khan MNA from Kurram Agency in his address on the occasion, complained that no political party has any programme for tribal areas. He said the tribesmen have proved their loyalty to the country during the last 55 years and the recent Wana operation is a testimony to this fact that tribal people are true patriot and peace loving. He appealed to the heads of the political parties to avoid fingering in the affairs of tribal areas.