The Washington Times
  • Subscribe
  • Times News Services
  • RSS
  • Mobile Headlines
  • e-edition
  • E-MAIL ALERTS
  • REGISTER
  • LOG IN
  • E-MAIL ALERTS
  • WELCOME
  • Your Profile
  • Log Out
  • Front Page Image
  • Classifieds
  • Autos
  • Real Estate
  • Jobs
  • Special Sections
  • Customer Service
  • Home
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Sports
    • NFL
    • NBA/WNBA
    • MLB
    • NHL
    • Tennis
    • Golf
    • Motorsports
    • Soccer
    • NCAA
    • Olympics
    • Outdoors
    • Other
  • Culture
    • Home & Living
    • Family & Kids
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Travel
    • Health
    • Washington Visitors
    • Books
    • Military History
    • Life
    • Auto
    • TV Listings
    • Movie Listings
    • Death Notices
    • Entertainment
  • Themes
  • Communities
  • Marketplace
    • Autos
    • Jobs
    • Real Estate
    • Classifieds
    • Shopping
    • Dining Out
    • Education
    • TWT Store
  • Videos
    • Two Guys
    • Birnbaum on Washington
    • Liz Glover
    • Amanda Carpenter
    • Morning Briefing
    • Documentaries
    • Joe Giganti
    • Video Game Minute
  • Podcasts
    • About Headlines
    • Audio and Radio
    • America's Morning News
  • Security

    Obama said to want revised Afghan options

  • Politics

    Bush warns of threats to freedom, economic growth

  • National

    Fort Hood shooting suspect charged with murder

  • Politics

    Obama has fences to mend on Japan trip

  • Business

    Obama calls for jobs forum in December

  • National

    HOLMES: Miscalculating engagement

  • National

    NORRIS: The Senate and the START treaty

Tuesday, April 13, 2004

Pakistan seeks reform on Afghan border

Rate this story

Average 0.00
after 0 votes
Login or register to rate this story

  • Font Size -+
  • Print
  • Email
  • Comment
  • Tweet this!
  • Share
  • Article
  • Comments ()
  • Click-2-Listen
  • Videos

More Stories

  • Obama begins delicate mission to Japan
  • 'Balloon boy' parents set to plead guilty
  • Spitzer declines to blame politics for downfall
  • Bishop, Kennedy spar over abortion

By

ISLAMABAD -- Awash with guns, opium, bands of armed Islamic militants, medieval laws, smugglers, rugged tribesmen and breathtaking mountains, Pakistan's remote Afghan border is one of the wildest places on earth.

But as the hunt intensifies for Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda fighters, pressure is growing to tame the semiautonomous region and impose 21st-century courts on a people who have defied conquest and state authority for centuries.

A raid last month by thousands of Pakistani troops on hundreds of suspected al Qaeda and other militants in the South Waziristan tribal district, where at least 120 persons died, has thrust the issue of reforming the area into national debate.

"What this whole effort has lacked is a political plan as to what this region's future status will be," said Ahmed Rashid, a leading Pakistani author.

Nearly the size of Belgium, the barren, 10,200-square-mile Federally Administered Tribal Area is a haven for al Qaeda and fundamentalist Taliban forces accused of attacks on U.S. troops across the Afghan border, U.S. officials say.

Hundreds of Arab, Afghan, Uzbek, Chechen and other foreign militants, drawn there since the 1980s when the U.S. government funded bands of Islamic fighters to drive the Soviet army out of Afghanistan, are believed to have escaped the recent fighting.

With tens of thousands of troops now in the region, Pakistan's authorities have given tribal elders until April 20 to expel the militants or risk more bloodshed.

"Pakistan has had to pay a high price for tolerating the strange exclusiveness of the area. This is unacceptable," the News daily newspaper said in an editorial.

President Pervez Musharraf said improving living conditions for the area's 6 million poor residents, mostly ethnic Pashtuns, and folding the devout Muslim enclave into the mainstream is a priority.

In a TV interview late last month, he stopped short of forecasting an end to the region's curious self-rule, saying now was not the time. He said development would press ahead, led by army engineers and backed by $54 million from Washington.

12Next »

Post a comment

There are comments on this article, submit your opinion!

Commenting is disabled for this entry.
If you feel there is still something worth mentioning about this entry please contact the author or the site admin.

Ask a Question

You Report

Do you have another point of view, photos, audio, video or more information about a story?

Top Stories

Most Read

  1. KELLNER: New Apple mouse really is 'Magic'
  2. EXCLUSIVE: Warner: Obama misplayed health care debate
  3. D.C. sniper executed in Virginia
  4. Airport rules changed after Ron Paul aide detained
  5. PRUDEN: Fatal reluctance to see evil
More Top Stories »
  1. Families meet as sniper's execution nears
  2. Michigan farm expert opens Marijuana U.
  3. EXCLUSIVE: Fort Hood suspect contacted Muslim extremists
  4. Houston sheriffs round up thousands of illegals
  5. Tax penalties and prison

Most Shared

  1. KELLNER: New Apple mouse really is 'Magic'
  2. Houston sheriffs round up thousands of illegals
  3. EXCLUSIVE: Fort Hood suspect contacted Muslim extremists
  4. Tax penalties and prison
  5. EDITORIAL: When the shooter becomes the victim
More Top Stories »
  1. Jordanian sees Jerusalem as a powder keg
  2. EDITORIAL: End Clinton-era military base gun ban
  3. Obama's union drive stumbles in N.H.
  4. Employers offer pet health care as perk
  5. E pluribus diversity?

Most Commented

  1. Houston sheriffs round up thousands of illegals
  2. EXCLUSIVE: Fort Hood suspect contacted Muslim extremists
  3. DeMint tries to ban 'permanent politicians'
  4. Obama: 'No faith justifies' Fort Hood attack
  5. Kennedy's disability plan could snag health bill
More Top Stories »
  1. D.C. sniper executed in Virginia
  2. Airport rules changed after Ron Paul aide detained
  3. EXCLUSIVE: GOPer Cao: Health vote may end career
  4. Dobbs leaves CNN before contract ends
  5. EDITORIAL: End Clinton-era military base gun ban

Listen to Washington Times Radio

  • America's Morning News

    with John McCaslin and Melanie Morgan

Blogs & Columns

  • POTUS Notes

    New Dem talking point on Obama approval doesn't wash

  • The Back Story

    12 arrested at Pelosi's office

  • Belief Blog

    New Vatican constitution released

  • Out of Context

    Foods that might kill libido

  • Technology

    Facebook wins round against phishing spammer

  • On the Fly

    United lifts some 'award' blocking

  • Redskins 360

    Nolan prefers chess to coaching

  • Tara's Two Cents

    On their way to summer vacation..

  • SNOBlog

    Beyond 'Woody'

Videos

Advertising Links
TWT Store
  • e-edition
  • Print Edition
  • Weekly Washington Times
TWT Affiliates
  • Middle East Times
  • Golf
  • UPI
  • Arbor Ballroom
  • Washington Times Global
  • About TWT
  • Press Room
  • F.A.Q.
  • Work for TWT
  • Advertise
  • Sponsors
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Site Map

All site contents © Copyright 2009 The Washington Times, LLC.