Tribal leader helped by Pak army would help ben Laden

Reuters/NY Times:

A pro-Taliban Pakistani tribal leader, who was backed by the Pakistan army in a campaign to evict Central Asian al Qaeda-linked fighters from tribal lands, said on Friday he would provide refuge to Osama bin Laden.

Mullah Nazir said he had never met fugitive al Qaeda leader, but was ready to protect him in South Waziristan tribal region, near the Afghan border, for the cause of ``oppressed people.''

``If he comes here and wants to live according to tribal traditions, then we can provide protection to him because we support oppressed people,'' Nazir told journalists in Wana, the main town of South Waziristan.

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Thousands of al Qaeda-linked foreign fighters, including Uzbeks, Chechens and Arabs, fled to Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal lands on the Afghan border after U.S.-led forces defeated the Taliban in 2001.

The militants were given refuge by the Pashtun tribes that straddle the border.

But relations broke down after tribesmen, with the tacit support of the Pakistan military, turned against the militants in March after they tried to kill a tribal elder.

Around 300 foreign militants and up to 40 tribal fighters, led by Mullah Nazir and backed by the army, have been killed in clashes in recent weeks.

The foreign militants were believed to have been commanded by Tahir Yuldashev, head of Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, a group that became linked to the al Qaeda network while in Afghanistan.

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This guy is still an enemy even if he is fighting al Qaeda Uzbek troops. Pakistan may take temporary advantage of the red on red fight, but at some point it must destroy the Taliban elements.