'Taleban truce' in tribal region

[Lost_Warrior]

Militants in Pakistan's tribal region of North Waziristan have announced a month-long ceasefire.

A spokesman for the militants announced the truce in a telephone call to the BBC from an undisclosed location.

He said the truce was to encourage dialogue with the government, and demanded troops withdraw from the area.

The government has described the truce as positive. Dozens of tribal militants and government troops have been killed in clashes in the area this year.

'Pakistani Taleban'

The militants, also known as local Taleban, have set the government four main conditions.

They want a withdrawal of army troops from the region within a month, and the removal of all new check posts from North Waziristan, their spokesman Abdullah Farhad told the BBC.

He also demanded the restoration of salaries and jobs and other incentives for local tribes and the release of tribesmen arrested during military operations against al-Qaeda and Taleban fighters in the region.

The governor of North Western Frontier Province, Ali Mohammad Jan Aurakzai, said a decision on these conditions would be taken in talks with the militants.

He promised to reciprocate with a goodwill gesture but did not elaborate.

Tens of thousands of Pakistani security forces are battling Taleban and al-Qaeda supporters in the country's restive tribal belt along its border with Afghanistan.

The "Pakistani Taleban" have risen over the past year to take control of large parts of Waziristan.

A similar ceasefire was announced last year in South Waziristan, since when violence has decreased significantly.

North Waziristan is the most conservative region in the seven tribal agencies that constitute Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and is seen as a hotbed of Taleban activity.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5115322.stm

 

[Scoobie Newbie]

OR perhaps they are getting an ass pounding and need some breathing room.

 

[Lost_Warrior]

That was my first thought...

 

[couchcommander]

Time to bring in any reserve forces they have availible.

 

[North Star]

If Pakistan stops operations as wanted by the Taliban, then the disruption we've caused the Taliban in Op MOUNTAIN THRUST (Brokeback reference?) will be watered down. We should make it clear that this would be unacceptable.

Time for some diplomatic maneuvering in the shadowy background!

 

[larry Strong]

Whatever happened to the dictum of "never negotiating with a terrorist"?

 

[GAP]

Then there is this from CNN

Afghan president: Taliban 'no match for our power'

(CNN) -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Sunday that the Taliban, the militant group ousted from power more than four years ago, is incapable of making a comeback.

Karzai, in an exclusive interview on CNN's "Late Edition," denounced former Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar after a Pakistani TV station aired an audiotape it said was from Omar.

While Karzai acknowledged Taliban attacks against schools, children, clergy and workers, he said, "They are no match for our power." (Watch Karzai challenge Omar -- 1:26)

"The problem of Taliban as a movement that can cause danger to the Afghan government, that can cause danger to the coalition's affairs for the long-term stability of Afghanistan does not exist," he said.

Karzai was asked about the airing of an audiotape by Geo TV in Pakistan, purportedly of Omar speaking to other Taliban leaders in Afghanistan. The identity of the man speaking has not been authenticated.

The speaker says that losing Kabul in 2001, when the Taliban was ousted from power, doesn't mean the Taliban has been defeated. He claims that Taliban militants still hold much of the region in the Afghan mountains. The speaker also says Afghan forces would have no clout without the American army.

Karzai didn't say whether he believed the voice was Omar's, but he castigated the man, saying the Taliban figure is a coward who sends young fighters to their deaths while he is in hiding.

"I would tell Mullah Muhammed Omar that if he is really in charge and if he is doing all of this, then he should show himself up and face the danger that he is causing to hundreds of young people in Afghanistan and in Pakistan and not hide the way he is hiding," Karzai said.

He said Omar has "no opinions on any issue" and that "it's somebody else speaking for him."

Karzai was asked about a comment from Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf that "we are certain that Mullah Omar is in Afghanistan and has reorganized the Taliban. While in the past al Qaeda was in the lead, now the Taliban are in the lead."

The Afghan president disputed this statement, saying it was "definitely wrong."

"Terrorism is attacking us. Al Qaeda or the Taliban, whoever they are. They are at times together, at times separate. It's terrorism attacking Afghanistan. Period. And it's the same terrorism also that is attacking innocent people in Pakistan."

He said he and Musharraf should work together to fight terror.

Asked about the progress in capturing Omar and the top al Qaeda leaders, Karzai said that "we will have them one day, sooner or later. One way or the other. ... like we have Zarqawi," referring to the recent killing by U.S. forces of al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

As far as the whereabouts of these top leaders, Karzai said, "They are not in Afghanistan, none of them."

 
Find this article at:
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/06/25/afghan.karzai/index.html 

 

[Scoobie Newbie]

quicker we learn Pakistan is not our ally the better.

 

[winchable]

Is it quite inconceivable that the current government will ever negotiate with the Taliban?

 

[GAP]

quicker we learn Pakistan is not our ally the better.

I think most here know that, it's the media and governments with an agenda (read US) that needs Pakistan that don't get it. The US , as it has in the past, dealt with the lesser evil to attack the larger evil, and Pakistan knows and benefits from this. There is NO way the US is going to backoff on support for Pakistan as long as Iraq and Afghanistan are in the public mind.

Is it quite inconceivable that the current government will ever negotiate with the Taliban?

Sure, Karzai's a politician interested in power, and will take whatever shortcut he can, and hope to pull the irons out of the fire at some later time.