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| India-Pakistan |
| Army to leave Mehsud areas after deal inked |
| 2008-06-06 |
| The military will “withdraw completely” from the Mehsud areas of South Waziristan after Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud frees the remaining captured army and paramilitary soldiers, and the government and Mehsud tribes sign a peace deal, according to a draft truce made available to Daily Times on Thursday. “If Clause 10 (A) of the peace deal is honoured, the army will vacate the Mehsud areas,” reads Clause 11 of the draft peace agreement. Clause 10 (A) refers to the release of “kidnapped army and Frontier Corps soldiers” by Baitullah in South Waziristan. Taliban commander in South Waziristan’s Sararogha town Taj Muhammad told Daily Times on May 24 that militants led by Baitullah were “still holding dozens of soldiers” captured during operations or ambushes. Cross-border attacks: The draft agreement does not include the condition of a commitment by the Mehsud tribes that they would not allow militants to continue cross-border movement for attacks on the United States and NATO forces inside Afghanistan. NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani says however that it is a “sticking point” among all the stakeholders – the Taliban, the government and the coalition partners in the war on terror (the US and the NATO countries). “Mehsud tribes say they cannot include this point in the agreement since they have no common border with Afghanistan, (but) our allies (in war on terror) say this clause (of cross-border movement) must be included (in the agreement),” Ghani told Daily Times in his office on May 28. The governor says the government is talking to the Mehsud tribes and not Baitullah, adding, “Let Baitullah say what he wants to say.” The 15-point draft agreement binds the Mehsud tribes to oust Al Qaeda-linked foreign militants from their areas in one month after the peace deal is signed, but also announces a possible two-month concession in this regard. The draft peace agreement says only those Taliban prisoners who have not been charged in a court of law will be released. Dispelling Western fears about peace deals in Waziristan, Ghani said: “This is not the endgame. You need to create space and a peace deal will reduce the space for militancy.” |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 just saying... Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever is native to the region... Can't see the Taliban and their AD 600 meds being able to control it in any meaningful way... |
| Posted by: 3dc 2008-06-06 01:32 |