Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Pakistan Makes Peace with al-Qaeda Supporters

I don't trust this:

Pakistan said Wednesday that a peace deal with Islamic militants in a border province would not give safe harbor to Osama bin Laden if he is found in the country.

Pakistan's government and militants — believed to support al-Qaeda and the Taliban militia — signed a peace deal with the government, aimed at ending years of violence in the rugged North Waziristan tribal area.

"Pakistan is committed to its policy on the war on terror, and Osama caught anywhere in Pakistan would be brought to justice," the country's top army spokesman, Gen. Shaukat Sultan, told The Associated Press.

[...]

Under the deal, the militants are to halt attacks on Pakistani forces in the semiautonomous region and stop crossing into nearby eastern Afghanistan to attack U.S. and Afghan forces, who are hunting al-Qaeda and Taliban forces there.

Pakistani troops are to stop their hugely unpopular military campaign in the restive Pakistani region, in which more than 350 soldiers have died, along with hundreds of militants and scores of civilians.
Are the Pakistani troops going to continue rooting out the Taliban and al-Qaeda or are they going to allow them to live in peace while they hide out waiting for an opportunity to strike at our troops?