Huma Aamir Malik & Agencies

ISLAMABAD, 24 February 2004 — Tribesmen in the rugged semi-autonomous region bordering Afghanistan have handed over dozens of people suspected of sheltering Al-Qaeda militants, a government official said yesterday. Threatened by the prospect of a large-scale Pakistan military offensive to seize the suspects, tribal elders bowed to pressure and presented authorities with the Al-Qaeda sympathizers.

“About 60 percent of those linked to Al-Qaeda or working as facilitators have been handed over to the local authorities,” the official speaking on condition of anonymity told reporters.

The official did not say how many suspects had been detained but security sources earlier said authorities were looking for some 90 people accused of offering shelter to Al-Qaeda and Taleban fugitives in the mountainous South Waziristan area along the eastern Afghan border.

Afghan officials suspect that tribesmen in South Waziristan provide sanctuary to militants involved in attacks against the US-led coalition and Afghan forces in the Afghan provinces of Khost, Paktia and Paktika.

The tribal elders handed over the accused over the past few days following a Feb. 20 deadline given by the government last week.

The government earlier deployed thousands of troops for an operation into the area if tribal elders failed to hand over the suspects and those protecting them.

However, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid said yesterday that “no offensive has been launched so far.”

“Troops have been deployed in the area to plug the entry of undesired elements,” Rashid said.

The minister in a statement Sunday dismissed as speculative that the beefing up of the troops followed reports that Al-Qaeda network chief Osama Bin Laden and his close associates had been spotted in the area.

“This step is not any individual specific but it is a part of Pakistan’s commitment to the international community against terrorism.”

Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmud Kasuri also rejected suggestions that the concentration of troops was linked to a report in London’s Sunday Express that Bin Laden had been “cornered” in an area near Quetta in southwestern Baluchistan province.

The deployment in South Waziristan “has nothing to do” with the British paper’s report, he told reporters yesterday, pointing out that the tribal belt was in a different location. “This (deployment) is not first of its kind. We have been involved in this type of activity for more than three years now,” he said. “We will not allow our territory to be used for terrorism.”

The US military last week said an operation was being prepared on both sides of the border.

“We’re moving in the direction of cooperative operations on both sides of the border — a hammer and anvil approach if you will,” said Lt. Gen. David Barno, commander of the US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan.

Pakistani military officials said troops would conduct an operation whenever there was a requirement to do so.

“There has never been and there would never be any involvement of foreign troops in any operation on our side of the border,” military spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan said on Sunday.