Cash weans tribes from Al Qaeda

South Waziristan has been center stage for the war on terror after hundreds of Al Qaeda militants, including Arabs, Uzbeks, Chechens, and Tajiks, found it a haven following the Taliban's ouster. Initially, it was estimated that around 600 Al Qaeda fighters were in hiding. Now officials say that figure has dropped to 100 to 150, though tribal sources say it's in the hundreds.

Pakistan has used a combination of force, economic sanctions, and negotiation to compel tribesmen to deny refuge to the foreign fighters. More than 500 people have been killed in the fighting in South Waziristan.

In return for amnesty, the four commanders pledged to stop fighting security forces, withdraw support for Al Qaeda, and refrain from attacking the US-led forces across the border. The men walked away with a bagful of money after they insisted that they owed money to Al Qaeda given to them to fight against the security forces, say official sources.

"At the start of the negotiations they asked for 170 million rupees [$2.8 million] but later they reduced the figure to 50 million rupees [$842,000]," Lt. Gen. Safdar Hussain, head of military operations in the tribal region, told reporers last week.

Traditionally the authorities used to award construction contracts to tribal leaders as a bribe to maintain peace in the tribal belt, but this is the first time the money was paid to tribal militant commanders fighting for Al Qaeda.

"Now giving money to militants seems to be an attempt to buy loyalty," says Mr. Noor. "It is also benefiting authorities by bringing disrepute to the militants. The tribesmen are cursing the militants that they fought for greed and not for jihad."

Apparently feeling the heat, the militant commanders are now denying the deal. "We neither made such a demand, nor were we paid 50 million rupees. We have been only paid some amount to rebuild homes demolished during the military operations. We did not owe any money to Al Qaeda people," says Haji Omer, a senior militant commander.

Mr. Omer's denial carries echoes of Naik Mohammed, another tribal commander who struck a deal with Pakistani officials last year, only to reneg. He was later killed in fighting.

Bait Ullah Mehsud, who is believed to be head of operations for the Taliban in South Waziristan, struck a peace deal with the authorities last week. He, however, refused to take offers of money.

The test of whether these latest peace deals stick, analysts say, will come next month when the snow starts to melt, allowing for cross-border attacks to resume against US-led forces.

Sailab Mehsud, an expert in South Waziristan, doubts that money will be enough to sever tribal support for Al Qaeda.

"Al Qaeda's network cannot be eliminated while Osama [bin Laden] and [his deputy] Zawahiri are alive. Their ability to hide gives moral support to the fighters who consider it a defeat of the superpower, America," says Sailab Mehsud, expert on South Waziristan. He likens the peace deals to cutting down plants, but leaving seeds behind. "The seeds of support, in the shape of extremism in the minds of many tribesmen, still exist."

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