WANA, Pakistan, 27 March 2004 — Rebel Pakistani tribesmen locked in battle with thousands of troops hunting Al-Qaeda militants have refused to hand over 22 hostages until the army abandons a bloody 11-day operation against them, tribal elders said yesterday.
“Members of the Yargulkhel tribe have refused to negotiate until troops vacate,” said Mohabbat Khan Shirani, one of nine elders sent to negotiate with the tribe, which is holding hostages, on Thursday night.
Renegade tribesmen from the Yargulkhel clan, a fiercely independent Pashtun sub-tribe, have been fighting alongside hundreds of Al-Qaeda militants against Pakistani forces since March 16 in a rugged tribal area of South Waziristan near the Afghan border.
The battle has reached a stalemate since the army halted fire Monday to allow negotiations.
Brig. Mehmood Shah, chief regional security commander, said around 163 people were arrested in the operation. “All are suspects. They are Uzbeks, Chechens, Afghans and local tribesmen and some are Arabs,” he said.
The tribesmen’s refusal came as Islamist parties, who see the Al-Qaeda hunt as a bid by Pakistan’s government to please the US, held nationwide protests yesterday.
“We are holding protest rallies throughout the country to condemn the military operation in the tribal region and the killing of innocent people there,” said MP Liaquat Baloch of Pakistan’s largest Islamic party Jamaat-e-Islami.
Chanting slogans against President Pervez Musharraf, the demonstrators took to the streets of dozens of cities.
