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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Yargulkhels asked to surrender Nek and group within 24 hours |
| 2004-06-08 |
| South Waziristan Agencyâs political administration on Tuesday asked the Yargulkhel sub-tribe to produce four men including Nek Muhammad within 24 hours or face punishment as the house-to-house search for foreign militants entered the second day in Shakai without any results. Nek Muhammad and his group were earlier wanted by the government but later pardoned under the Shakai deal with the military on April 24. The notice to the Yargulkhels did not state the charges on which the government had asked for the surrender of Nek Muhammad, Haji Sharif, Maulvi Noor Islam and Maulvi Abdul Aziz. However, it did not ask the sub-tribe to produce Maulvi Abbas, also a Nek Muhammad supporter. Punishment included the demolition of shops and other commercial interests belonging to the Yargulkhels, which were excluded from the Ahmedzai Wazir-led tribal lashkar (army) that continued searching houses suspected of sheltering foreign militants in Shakai. The political administrationâs notice stated, âThe four men should be surrendered to the authorities unconditionally and within 24 hours.â The demand for Nek and his groupâs surrender surprised many people but analysts said the move was aimed at clearing a way for âserious actionâ against the Yargulkhels for expressing their inability to take on the foreign militants. Tuesdayâs notice signalled the end of the short-lived deal that both sides had hailed, but which had changed little in South Waziristan Agency. Meanwhile, the search for foreign militants in Shakai produced what the government wanted, âtangible resultsâ. A tribal elder who returned from Shakai told Daily Times that dozens of houses of the Khunyakhel sub-tribe were searched but no foreign militants were found. A tribal journalist who had also returned from Shakai said the lashkar faced resistance for the first time when the Sperkai sub-tribe told a jirga on Tuesday that it would decide whether or not to let the lashkar demolish two of its (Sperkai sub-tribe) houses that were suspected of sheltering foreign militants. |
| Posted by:Fred |