A tribe in a northwestern Pakistani region where the military has fought insurgents has agreed to stop sheltering foreign fighters and hand over local Taleban leaders, authorities said. A tribal elder said some militants could be pardoned and freed. Meanwhile, security forces claimed to have killed 35 militants Tuesday in fresh fighting in another part of the northwest, which borders Afghanistan. Pakistan has previously signed such pacts with tribes in its northwest regions, but they tend to unravel and spur Western criticism that they give militants time to regroup or create safe havens for them. But Monday's agreement in the Bajur tribal area came after the army said it had defeated insurgents there after six months of fighting, indicating the government was negotiating from a position of strength. Bajur is a rumored hiding place of Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, and the military offensive there earned praise from American officials concerned that militants use Pakistan as a base from which to plan attacks in Afghanistan. The 28-point pact was signed with the Mamund tribe, which controls a large swath of Bajur and whose ranks have yielded most of the top leaders of the local Taleban. Shafirullah Khan, the top Bajur government official, told reporters that the tribe also agreed to ban the display of heavy weapons. Tribal elders have traditionally had massive influence in Pakistan's semiautonomous tribal regions. Al-Qaeda and Taleban fighters have decimated the elders' ranks, but the Pakistani government has still relied on tribes to help it overcome militants - encouraging the rise of tribal militias, for example. The government also prefers to avoid talking directly to militants, and thus turns to intermediaries including tribal leaders. Mamund tribal elder Malik Abdul Aziz told reporters Monday that he and his colleagues were in touch with top Bajur Taleban leader Faqir Mohammed and Taleban spokesman Maulvi Umar, and that both had agreed to surrender. However, Aziz also said the tribe has an “understanding” with the government that those who turn themselves in will be pardoned and let go if the tribe guarantees they will no longer fight. Khan and other political officials could not immediately be reached to comment on any pardons. Umar also did not answer his phone. Such a move could bolster critics of the peace pacts. Already, Pakistan has raised international alarm by agreeing to impose Islamic law in the nearby Swat Valley in ongoing peace talks with Taleban fighters there. In Bajur, the Mamund tribe also agreed to register the area's religious schools, which often are breeding grounds for militants, and to disallow the broadcasting of anti-government propaganda in mosques and other places.
