Tribesmen held as amnesty fails

By Zaffar Abbas
BBC correspondent in Islamabad

Earlier attempts to flush out foreign militants resulted in fierce clashes

Officials in Pakistan's tribal region of South Waziristan have detained at least 30 people on suspicion of having links with Islamic militants.

The arrests come after efforts to persuade local tribesmen to either hand over or register hundreds of foreign militants living in the area failed.

Officials believe many militants are still using the territory to create trouble in neighbouring Afghanistan.

The army and paramilitary troops have been put on high alert.

Reports from the town of Wana and its nearby villages indicate that hundreds of tribesmen have started to take up positions in the mountainous region.

End of amnesty

Earlier attempts in March this year to flush out al-Qaeda and other foreign militants from the area resulted in fierce clashes and heavy casualties on both sides.

Eventually the military authorities were compelled to negotiate with the warring tribesmen to end the fighting.

But on Friday, a government spokesman accused the tribal leaders of South Waziristan of going back on their promise to enrol all of the foreigners living in the area.

He indicated that because of their non co-operation, the government's offer of general amnesty for local and foreign militants was off.

Officials said some of the tribal leaders who were sympathetic to foreign militants were detained and raids were being carried out to arrest more people.

But a senior government official said the military had no immediate plan to launch another security operation in the area and, according to him, it would not use force unless there was armed resistance from the renegade tribesmen.