Pakistan's army has agreed to a cease-fire with militants holding some 260 soldiers hostage near the Afghan border, officials said Monday. The soldiers were seized Aug. 30 in South Waziristan, a tribal region where pro-Taliban militants hold sway. Fighting between the militants and security forces there has since left scores of people dead. Tribal leaders acting as mediators have managed to establish the cease-fire, said Arbab Arif Khan, the government official responsible for security in Pakistan's troubled tribal belt. «They are now in session with the militants to secure the release of the hostages,» Khan said. «We don't yet know what the terms would be.» Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad confirmed the agreement to stop the fighting. Representatives of the militants could not immediately be reached for comment, the Associated Press reported.
