Pakistani officials, tribal elders reject Haqqani's claims of public support

By Qasim Yousafzai
For Al-Shorfa.com
2010-01-23

[TARIQ MAHMOOD/AFP/Getty Images] Many in Pakistan's tribal region reject Taliban's claims of support.

Government officials, defence analysts and tribal elders in Pakistan have strongly criticised claims made by Taliban commander Siraj-u-Din Haqqani in a January 19th interview with Al-Jazeera television.

In the interview, the Pakistan-based Haqqani said that Taliban fighters are now dictating the war. He also said that there would be even more attacks in the future and claimed that his movement is enjoying support from tribes in the region.

"They (Taliban) are killing innocent people daily in the streets of Peshawar and elsewhere in Pakistan", said (ret.) Major Gen. Jamshid Ayaz, former president of the Institute of Regional Studies in Islamabad.

He asked why residents of the tribal region, whose brethren are suffering atrocities by the Taliban, would support them.

"[Haqqani] is just boasting and making false claims", Ayaz said.

Ayaz derided Taliban claims of victory against coalition forces. Victory means holding one's ground, Ayaz said. "They (Taliban) don't hold any territory anywhere, so how can they claim to be winning? They just stage hit-and-run attacks that any criminal band can do".

Ayaz also rejected the charge by Siraj-u-Din Haqqani that Pakistan was following a Western agenda. "Pakistan is presently pursuing an independent policy in the war against terror, and it's dealing with insurgents in the tribal belt and other areas", he said. "Pakistan has rejected several times requests by Western countries to launch military operations in the South Waziristan agency against militants", Ayaz said, adding that Pakistan has told these countries that Islamabad wants to handle the issue in the manner best for its national interests.

Defence analysts, when asked about Haqqani's video on Al-Jazeera, told Central Asia Online it was a public relations campaign by the Taliban leader.

"It's an image-building exercise and needs to be discouraged by the media organisations too," Ayaz says.

Malik Amanullah Kansi, head of the Balochistan tribal jirga and committee, agreed.

"In my view, the Haqqani group is just propagandising against Pakistan for its own purposes. All its claims are false," he told Central Asia Online.

"I categorically reject the claims of the terrorists that they are being supported by the tribal elders across the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan," said Bacha Khan Zadran, tribal elder and the Kabul representative of the tripartite commission.

He challenged the terrorists to list their supporters.

"I am not sure about the role of intelligence agencies operating on Pakistan's side, but I am sure about all the tribes, and that they are not supporting any terrorist organisation," Zadran said "Tribal elders are peace-loving people, and they will not support any extremist and terrorist move, we support only national governments, not any terrorist organisation," he said

"They (Taliban militants) are killing innocent people. How can we support them?" Zadran added.

Maulana Abdul Wasay, a senior minister and Jamiat Ulema-e- Islam (Fazal) parliamentary leader in the Balochistan Assembly, told Central Asia Online, "We deny the claim that Pakistani officials and tribal leaders are supporting the Taliban fighting against ... allied forces in Afghanistan".

"I deny reports that tribal leaders are supporting the Taliban. We have been the biggest victims of the war against terrorism," said Nawabzada Mehboob Khan Jogezai, a well-known tribal head of Balochistan.

"Therefore, it is illogical to accuse us of providing protection and support to the Taliban leaders. We strongly condemned the Taliban statement. It's a direct attack on the integrity and sovereignty of Pakistan," he said.

"Pakistani tribal leaders have no link to the Taliban," Jogezai said. "Whether they're in Afghanistan or Pakistan, we are not supporting any terrorist organisation across the border."

Sen. Kamran Khan Murtaza from Balochistan told Central Asia Online, "We are not a failed state. I think it is necessary that the law should take its course. The dignity of tribal areas as a national, ethnic and racial entity can be restored. The Taliban are conveying a phony message when they say that Pakistani officials and tribal leaders are supporting them".

"We strongly condemn this statement. Pakistan is playing the role of a front-line state in the war against terror (and) these elements are trying to perturb it", he said.

Malik Khalid Khan, a member of the tribal committee in Balochistan, told Central Asia Online, "I think (the video) is one of those steps taken by anti-Pakistan elements to divert the war against terror ... Taliban leader Sirajuddin Haqqani is hiding the fact that they are playing into foreign hands against Pakistan. There are no militia movement roots in ethnic Pashtun tribal traditions. It is wrong to claim that the Taliban fighting in Afghanistan are being supported by tribal leaders. We have always condemned all terrorist activities".

Khan said the video was an attempt to cause trouble for dwellers of the tribal regions by falsely accusing them of supporting terror networks.

"Sirajuddin Haqqani, a warlord with a network of fighters in North Waziristan, is trying to make his focus on Balochistan work. These allegations have been levelled to bolster an untoward situation here", he said.

Central Asia Online writers Hasan Khan in Islamabad, Ghani Kakar in Quetta and Farzad Lameh in Kabul contributed to this report.

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