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Government trying for accord with South Waziristan, Bajaur militants

* Deals with militants in South Waziristan will be amended

By Iqbal Khattak

MIRANSHAH: The government is trying to reach an accord with militants in South Waziristan and Bajaur agencies similar to the one it made with pro-Taliban militants in North Waziristan early this month, official and tribal elders told Daily Times.

“The government, having made peace deals with militants in South Waziristan in November 2004 and February 2005 respectively, is interested in amending them to make them similar to the one made in North Waziristan,” the official and a tribal elder told Daily Times.

The official said the government would seek the assistance of the 45-member tribal jirga that brokered a peace deal in North Waziristan to amend the two deals in South Waziristan, and reach a North Waziristan-like accord with the militants in Bajaur Agency.

NWFP Governor Ali Muhammad Jan Orakzai told reporters after the September 5 deal in Miranshah that the tribal jirga “still has work to do”, but declined to set a timetable for the missions in the Bajaur and South Waziristan tribal regions.

The government had signed peace deals with the Mehsud and Wazir militants in South Waziristan but these accords did not include the two key demands – no cross-border attacks and refuge to foreign militants.

The security situation in Bajaur Agency, a region near the Kunar province of Afghanistan, has been worsening since 13 innocent civilians were killed by an alleged US missile attack in Damadola village of the agency early this year. A security official said that Al Qaeda and Taliban militants might cross into Bajaur Agency if the coalition forces in Afghanistan pushed them hard enough.

Meanwhile, four foreign militants reportedly participated in pre-accord negotiations along with their local commanders, a senior jirga member told Daily Times.

The 12-member negotiating team of pro-Taliban militant commanders included Abu Laith Libbi, Abu Nasir, Abu Okash, an Iraqi national having influence over the local population in Mir Ali town, and Khalid Habib. “The pro-Taliban militant delegation, which also included Hafiz Gul Bahadur, Maulvi Abdul Khaliq, Maulvi Sadiq Noor and Baitullah Mehsud, met government representatives and not jirga members,” the jirga member said.

The security official said that foreign militants led by Abu Okash tried to disrupt the negotiations, but Maulvi Sadiq Noor pressured the foreigners into agreeing to the proposed peace deal with the government.

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