Terrorists Give Pakistan Govt 10 Days To Get Out Of Town
KHAR, Pakistan: Pakistani militant groups are joining forces to fight the government, a fugitive cleric said Tuesday, and offered sanctuary to al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.
Faqir Mohammed, a pro-Taliban cleric in the Bajur region, said militant leaders based near the Afghan border had formed an umbrella organization called Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan.
He said they had given the government 10 days to halt army operations in Waziristan and Swat, two militant strongholds in the northwest.
“If the government continues war against us then we have chalked out our strategy and we will avenge for the blood of each of our people,” said Mohammed.
He said militants would mount suicide attacks and target government officials. It was unclear when the ultimatum would expire.
Mohammed, who is wanted by the government for alleged involvement in attacks on security forces in Bajur, spoke to reporters who had been brought in a darkened truck to a high walled compound in the mountains about an hour’s drive from Khar, Bajur’s main town.
The army said Monday it was investigating reports of the formation of the group to determine whether it was more than a propaganda ploy.
However, senior officials have acknowledged that militants from Waziristan and Bajur have moved to Swat, a former tourist destination just 160 kilometers (100 miles) from the capital, Islamabad, and suggested al-Qaida also has a hand in the fighting.
Mohammed said the group was independent of the Taliban fighting in Afghanistan but was in touch with the Taliban’s supreme leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar.
Mohammed denied a suggestion from President Pervez Musharraf that Osama bin Laden could be in Bajur, but said that if “he comes here, we will welcome and assist him.”
In an interview with The Associated Press last month, Musharraf said it was possible that the al-Qaida leader and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, could be hiding in Bajur or in neighboring Kunar province of Afghanistan because of the remoteness and ruggedness of terrain and lack of troops there.
Musharraf said that neither Pakistan nor the U.S. had evidence of their whereabouts.
(AP)
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December 18th, 2007 at 3:07 pmHow much longer is Musharaff going to tolerate AQ and the Taliban on his soil. Waziristan looks like a good place to open up a nuclear testing range. Just limit the testing to 1 or 2 KT. More or less what nuke arty would shoot.
December 18th, 2007 at 5:07 pm10 days to get out of town you horn-swagglin, bush-whacken, sheep-herdin, sidewinders……….!!
December 18th, 2007 at 9:46 pmOne comment.
Let the carpet bombing begin….
December 19th, 2007 at 12:00 pm