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'Recognition Of Taliban 'administration' On The Cards
Via Winds of Change. How true or bogus?
Karachi, 25 May (AKI) - Sources in northern Pakistan have told Adnkronos International (AKI) that Islamabad is rapidly reviewing its policies on Waziristan and will eventually withdraw its troops and recognise the Pakistani Taliban militants who in practice run the tribal region. A clear sign of this shift in policy is the recent appointment of retired Lt. General Ali Muhammad Jan Orakzai - widely considered a foe of Washington - as governor of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP). which borders the tribal area.

For the past four years, Pakistani security forces have been battling Taliban militants in the tribal areas of North and South Waziristan under the banner of the US-led war on terror. Tens of thousands of Pakistani troops have been deployed in the lawless tribal belt of Wazoo Waziristan, which lies on Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, in order to hunt down Islamic militants. Both Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters are believed to have fled into the area after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

However sources say that a defeat of the security forces in North and South Waziristan is inevitable. Reports say that Pakistani forces are unable to move on the ground. Even within the regional capitals of Miran Shah in North Waziristan or Wana in South Waziristan where they are based, the Pakistani troops are at the mercy of the local Taliban commanders.
Posted by: Steve White 2006-05-28
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=154069