Islamic Emirate of Waziristan

[mhmmdkashif]

The Islamic Emirate of Waziristan (Urdu: اسلامی امارات وزیرستان ) is a rebel organization in Waziristan, Pakistan that some commentators claim gained de facto recognition from the Government of Pakistan when it was named as party to the Waziristan Accord, the agreement reached between Islamabad and local tribesmen to end the undeclared Waziristan War on September 5, 2006

Description
The Islamic militants in Waziristan have close affiliations with the Taliban. Waziristan is often mentioned as a haven for al-Qaeda fighters, who will be required to either leave the area or act peacefully as a condition of the negotiated peace accord. Some of these militants call their organization the "Islamic Emirate of Waziristan." According to anonymous sources, the Pakistan government effectively acknowledged the organization in the Waziristan accord of September 5, 2006 which referred to the organization in the agreement, however the agreement does not recognize the Islamic Emirate of Waziristan as an independent state, but only as a security body charged with fulfilling the obligations of the treaty.

There is speculation that Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders have found refuge in the area controlled by the Emirate, which is a staging ground for militant operations in Afghanistan. A condition of the truce is that no support be given for these operations. Local observers view the truce accord as a prelude to hot pursuit chases of mujahideen into Pakistan by NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Details of the agreement may be found under Waziristan accord.

Leadership structure of the Pakistan Taliban
The Taliban in Waziristan is led by Maulavi Jalaluddin Haqqani, a veteran mujahideen commander and member of the Zadran tribe, who aligned himself with the Taliban and rose to be a cabinet member of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the official name of the former Taliban government of Afghanistan). He has delegated much of the day-to-day field operation to his son, Sirajuddin Haqqani, who is said to be military commander over all the Taliban-aligned militants in the Waziristan tribal regions.

In June of 2006, in advance of the Waziristan accord, the elder Haqqani issued a decree that stated that while the fight with the US and Karzai governments will continue "till the last drop of blood", it was no longer Taliban policy to continue to fight with the Pakistan army. The ceasefire edict was circulated only in South Waziristan, however, to keep pressure on the Pakistan government towards reaching a peace accord in the north (ultimately the Waziristan accord).

The Haqqani edict resulted in a partial ceasefire in South Waziristan, although some tribal militias continued to fight on in hopes of winning the release of fellow rebels imprisoned by the government. Ultimately it would be the Waziristan accord that would secure the release of all rebel fighters, both Taliban and non-Taliban.

While reporting on the June ceasefire in South Waziristan, the Dawn newspaper in Pakistan also reported that a senior Taliban figure (left unnamed), in consultation with local tribal leaders, had blessed Maulavi Nazir Ahmad as head of the militants of the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe. The senior leader also endorsed Baitullah Mehsud to continue as head of the mujahideen of the Mehsud tribe and appointed, Abdullah Mehsud, a renowed fugitive jihadist, to head a shura of mujahideen representing four additional tribes.

It is not clear if Maulavi Jalaluddin Haqqani, and thus the entire Pakistan Taliban leadeship, identifies himself as a part of an Islamic Emirate of Waziristan, or if it is a smaller, and perhaps non-Taliban, group of militants who invoke this name as a rallying cry.

After an initial miscue, the Government of Pakistan has consistently emphasized the Taliban was not party to the accord. However, on September 24, The Daily Telegraph published an article revealing the previously unnamed "senior leader" to be none other than Mullah Omar, the former leader of the Taliban in Afghanistan. Regarding Mullah Omar's role in the southern ceasefire and the truce in North Waziristan, the Telegraph quotes Lateef Afridi, a tribal elder and former member of the Pakistan national assembly, as saying:

"Had they (local tribal militants) been not asked by Mullah Omar, none of them were willing to sign an agreement... This is no peace agreement, it is accepting Taliban rule in Pakistan's territory."

A true state?
Though proclaimed by the rebels as a "state" or "emirate", there are questions regarding the region being called as such. Those who support that the region is a state point to the facts that the federal authority is little to nonexistent and that the area ruled mostly by tribal elders. Moreover, Taliban reportedly controls most of the region with its own authoritarian rule including beheadings and other violent punishments which the Pakistan government has been unable to stop. Such brazen show of authority has led one author in the Wall Street Journal to remark that Wazirisitan Agency was a "state within a state"

References
Shahzad, Syed Saleem. "Pakistan: Hello al-Qaeda, goodbye America", Asia Times Online, 2006-09-08. Retrieved on 2006-09-12.

a b Moreau, Ron; Zahid Hussain (2006). Border Backlash. Newsweek international edition. MSNBC.com. Retrieved on 2006-09-20.

Roggio, Bill. "Talibanistan: The Establishment of the Islamic Emirate of Waziristan", The Fourth Rail, 2006-09-05. Retrieved on 2006-09-28.

Rohde, David. "Al Qaeda Finds Its Center of Gravity", New York Times, 2006-09-10. Retrieved on 2006-09-12.

Shahzad, Syed Saleem. "The knife at Pakistan's throat", Asia Times Online, 2006-09-02. Retrieved on 2006-09-12.

a b Khan, Ismail. "Forces, militants heading for truce", Dawn, 2006-06-22. Retrieved on 2006-09-29.

Ansari, Massoud, Colin Freeman. "Omar role in truce reinforces fears that Pakistan 'caved in' to Taliban", The Daily Telegraph, 2006-09-24. Retrieved on 2006-09-29.

Rupert, James. "Where the Taliban still rule", Newsday, 2006-02-09. Retrieved on 2006-09-28.

Shahzad, Syed Saleem. "The Taliban's bloody foothold in Pakistan", Asia Times Online, 2006-02-08. Retrieved on 2006-09-28.

Ijaz, Mansoor. "Musharrafistan", Wall Street Journal, 2006-09-19.
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What do you think people, can this be true or just another western venture?

[mhmmdkashif]

The Waziristan Accord (or North Waziristan Accord) is an agreement between the government of Pakistan and tribals, resident in the Waziristan area to mutually cease hostilities in North Waziristan (a district in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas adjacent to Afghanistan). The agreement was signed on September 5, 2006 in the North Waziristan town of Miranshah. The agreement effectively ends the Waziristan War, fought between the Pakistani military and rebels in the border region with ties to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

Initial reports characterized the accord as an agreement with the Taliban, however the Government of Pakistan has strenously denied the Taliban were party to the accord, or that the accord is a deal with the Taliban. News sources continue to report that the Taliban fighters exert significant and perhaps dominant control over the area, and were the main force behind the peace agreement (see Islamic Emirate of Waziristan). Voice of America reports, for instance, that the pact received the blessing of Mullah Omar, the former leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

Details of the accord
The accord consists of 16 clauses and 4 sub-clauses. The major points include:

• The Government agrees to stop air and ground attacks against militants in Waziristan.
• Militants are to cease cross-border movement into and out of Afghanistan.
• Foreigners (understood to mean foreign jihadists) in North Waziristan will have to leave Pakistan but "those who cannot leave will be allowed to live peacefully, respecting the law of the land and the agreement" (wording from Dawn newspaper article).
• Area check-points and border patrols will be manned by a tribal force. Pakistan Army forces will withdraw from control points.
• No parallel administration will be established in the area. The law of the Government shall remain en force.
• The Government agrees to follow local customs and traditions in resolving issues.
• Tribal leaders will ensure that no one attacks law enforcement personnel or damages state property.
• Tribesmen will not carry heavy weapons. Small arms are allowed.
• Militants will not enter agencies adjacent to this agency (the agency of North Waziristan).
• Both sides will return any captured weapons, vehicles, and communication devices.
• The Government will release captured militants and will not arrest them again.
• The Government will pay compensation for property damage and deaths of innocent civilians in the area.

Perspectives on the accord

Editorials in Pakistan
Some Islamabad-based observers view the truce accord as a prelude to hot pursuit chases of mujahideen into Pakistan by NATO forces operating in Afghanistan. They view it as a defeat for the principle of territorial integrity of Pakistan.

Pervez Musharraf has said,"This treaty is not to deal with the Taliban. It is actually to fight the Taliban."

Comments by Afghanistan's Foreign Minister
Afghan Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta said the peace accord in North Waziristan is insufficient. He commented to the BBC:

"I believe this is a cardinal mistake to believe that Waziristan is the only centre of terrorist activity. I think it is [in] a lot of other places in our region and a lot of organisations and also madrassas [religious schools], that they are the centre of terrorist activity."

From the White House
White House spokesman Tony Snow, commenting on September 7, 2006, said that Islamabad had given the US assurances that the ceasefire accord would not undermine the hunt for Osama bin Laden and the agreement was aimed at combating extremism.

From the Taliban
Commenting immediately after the accord, Abdullah Farhad, a local Taliban spokesman, said there were no foreign fighters in the area, and if there were, the Government should have provided evidence of their existence.

Views from third parties
The deal has been severely criticized in the western press with one editorial describing it as "the terms of surrender by Pakistan to the Taliban and al Qaeda". Another column termed it as an "unconditional surrender of Waziristan" by Pakistan, adding that the deal is "a boon to the terrorists and a humiliation for the Pakistani government." Some other newspapers have commented that the deal is a "short-term defeat" that risked the wrath of its US allies to secure "long-term strategic gains"; and quoted a retired Pakistan general as saying it was a "tactical retreat".

An "Islamic State of Waziristan"?
(Reffered in above post)
Some commentators have used this name as descriptive of de facto recognition from the Government of Pakistan as a result of the accord.