The Hindu : Operation against Al-Qaeda halted for now

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 23, 2004

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International

Operation against Al-Qaeda halted for now

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, MARCH 22. Pakistani forces today observed a limited ceasefire in the tribal area bordering Afghanistan, where operations have been going on for the last five days in search of Al-Qaeda operatives, to enable tribal elders persuade the suspected militants to surrender.

A military spokesman, Shaukat Sultan, told a news conference that the suspension of operations for a while was not a ceasefire and that it was a gesture at the instance of the tribal elders. The forces were determined to rid the area of foreign elements and their abettors, he said.

There was no word till evening about the fate of the tribal elders' mission. Armed with white flags the elders went inside the area where the militants are said to be hiding in a last ditch attempt to prevail upon the suspected Al-Qaeda and Taliban elements to give up.

Analysts are sceptical of the outcome of the mission as the suspected militants had ignored similar appeals by the Government in the last few days. The Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf's offer not to hand over the militants to the United States after they surrendered went unheeded as it was thought that Islamabad might not stick to its word.

The tribal elders are trying to persuade the local Yargulkhel clan, a fierce Pashtun sub-tribe which has been sheltering and fighting alongside the militants, to hand them over along with 12 soldiers and two officials taken hostage.

According to Maj. Gen. Sultan, of the eight tribal agencies seven are totally peaceful and free of foreign elements. He asserted even in one agency only a sub-tribe was providing shelter to the foreigners and that the forces were determined to catch them.

In the current operation, Pakistani forces have detained over 100 foreign elements and local tribes helping them. An estimated 500 tribesmen and militants, said to be mostly radical Uzbek or Chechen fugitives who fought alongside the Al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and fled into Pakistan after the U.S.-led offensive in late 2001, are said to be holed up in the area.

Asked about the presence of "high value target" among the suspected militants, Maj. Gen. Sultan maintained that Pakistan had never talked about any such thing. Gen. Musharraf had made it clear in a recent interview to CNN that the assessment was based on fierce resistance from the militants and not on any definite information.

In a related development, the U.S. Central Command chief, Johan Abizaid, arrived here to meet senior officials. Maj. Gen. Sultan, however, said that the visit had been planned long ago and that it had nothing to do with the current operations.

Gen. Abizaid met the Pakistan Vice-Chief of Army Staff, Muhammad Yusaf Khan, and discussed "routine matters."

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