Pak tribes join hunt for al-Qaeda

The armed group known as a "tribal lashkar" headed to the troubled borderlands with a mission to conduct a house-to-house search to purge South Waziristan region of foreign terrorists, tribal leader Malik Shireen Jan told AFP.

He said the decision to raise the lashkar was agreed at a meeting of hundreds of tribal elders in South Waziristan's main town Wana.

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The meeting was also joined by some 5,000 tribesmen from the area, he said.

"The gathering was unanimous that presence of al-Qaeda members is fraught with dangers for the tribal population. We have therefore decided to use force against them," he said.

He said the tribal gathering also issued an ultimatum to foreigners to quit the Pakistani territory by Sunday and asked local sympathisers who played host to al-Qaeda fugitives to surrender over the next 24 hours.

"If any local provided food or shelter or extended any cooperation to the foreign terrorists the tribal lashkar is empowered to demolish his house in addition to imposing a fine of one million rupees (about 17,500 dollars)."

The elders have also asked all tribes in South Waziristan to identify al-Qaeda sympathisers so that the lashkar can arrest and hand them over to the authorities, he added.

The gathering on Saturday was "very effective" as all tribal groups in the semi-autonomous northwestern region bordering Afghanistan were represented and its actions cannot be challenged, he said.

"The tribesmen appear to have understood the gravity of the situation and they have vowed to cooperate with the government," another tribal elder Malik Ajmal said.

The decision follows a warning by the government that it would mount a fresh military offensive if the tribes did not hand over the leading local allies of extremists by April 10.

Meanwhile, Pakistani authorities have stepped up efforts to muster greater support from tribal leaders to flush out hundreds of foreign militants in the region bordering Afghanistan, a top security official said yesterday.

More than 100 tribal leaders will hold a grand jirga (council) in Peshawar with the North West Frontier Province governor, Syed Iftikhar Ali today, regional security chief Brigadier Mahmood Shah told AFP, speaking by telephone.