Associated Press

ISLAMABAD, 1 February 2004 — A hard-line religious coalition warned on Friday that tribesmen might fire on US forces if a planned “spring offensive” against terror suspects extended into Pakistan.

Riaz Durrani, spokesman for the opposition coalition Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, which controls two Pakistani provinces bordering Afghanistan, said any move by Washington to deploy forces there would be a “historic mistake.”

A US official in Washington hinted this week that a planned effort to step up the hunt for Taleban or Al-Qaeda fugitives at the end of the winter could extend into Pakistan. For the past two years, thousands of US forces have been operating in southern and eastern Afghanistan, but say they haven’t crossed the rugged border.

Pakistan is a key US ally in its war on terrorism, but said Thursday it would not allow US troops on its soil.

The MMA — also known as the United Action Forum — nevertheless said it would raise the issue in Parliament and threatened street protests if Washington did get the green light to operate inside Pakistan.

“If Pakistan gives permission to America for conducting military operations in tribal regions, it will be very dangerous,” Durrani said. “In such a situation, the (US) army will face bullets from the tribesmen.”

He said so far tribesmen in the border regions, which are largely autonomous from the central government, are showing restraint toward the presence of the Pakistani military, which have launched a number of operations to hunt down Al-Qaeda fugitives.

“We are urging them not to resist against the army,” Durrani said. “But if Americans go into their areas, the tribesmen will not listen to us.”

Osama Bin Laden and his top lieutenants are believed to be in hiding in the border regions — possibly inside Pakistan — and sympathies for the Taleban run high among the deeply conservative tribal people who live there.

The US-backed Afghan government has complained that resurgent Taleban rebels are operating from Pakistani territory and launching cross-border assaults.

In Afghanistan, the US military has declined to comment on the reported plans, saying it doesn’t comment on future operations.

However, a military spokesman in Kabul said Thursday that US forces were “sure” they will catch Bin Laden this year.