Lahore: A new entry posted on the Internet encyclopedia Wikipedia says that the Islamic Emirate of Waziristan was a rebel organisation in Waziristan that gained de facto recognition from the Pakistan government on September 5, when the two sides signed a ceasefire agreement.
“The Islamic Emirate of Waziristan has close affiliations with the Taliban. Although it is a separate entity 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,” the Daily Times quoted the entry as saying.
It further states that the ‘Islamic Emirate of Waziristan’ controlled the area of North Waziristan Agency and South Waziristan Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
“In practice, the Islamic Emirate of Waziristan has replaced these two agency-level governments as the political body controlling the area, although formal dissolution of the former governments was not part of the truce agreement. The Pakistan government effectively acknowledged the organisation in the peace agreement of September 5, 2006 which referred to the organisation in the agreement, however the agreement does not recognise the Islamic Emirate of Waziristan as an independent state, but only as a security body charged with fulfilling the obligations of the treaty,” says the new entry.
“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 the Islamic Emirate of Waziristan no longer supports these operations. Local observers view the truce accord as a prelude to ‘hot pursuit’ chases of Mujahideen into Pakistan by NATO forces in Afghanistan,” it adds.
But, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry was quick to dismiss the new entry as “baseless propaganda”. The Pakistan government would take immediate notice” of the information on the website. We have repeatedly cleared that no agreement has been signed with local Taliban. Basically, the September 5, 2006 agreement is between the federal government and local tribal leaders. There is no agreement with the Taliban at all,” said FO spokesman Tasnim Aslam.
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