Shun violence or quit: Waziristan clerics to foreign terrorists
June 21st, 2011 - 7:38 pm ICT by IANS
Islamabad, June 21 (IANS) Condemning “various forms” of terrorism in North Waziristan, an assembly of clerics in the volatile area blamed foreign fighters for the problem and said they must desist from violence if they wanted to stay in the area, a media report said.
The congregation of more then 300 clerics and religious scholars also held suicide bombing to be an act violating Islamic tenets, the Urdu daily Jang reported.
“We condemn all the various forms of terrorism in North Waziristan,” said the assembly at the Nizamia madarsa in Mir Ali area near local capital Miranshah.
It also condemned various institutions in the area that brainwash people into becoming become suicide bombers.
The congregation also warned foreign fighters against further attempts to destabilise the area, and said they could only stay if they stopped their violent activities.
The mountainous Waziristan area in northwest Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan, is home to hundreds of Al Qaeda and Taliban militants. The US has been pressuring Pakistan Army to act against the terrorists sheltering there, but Pakistan has been resisting, saying it will itself decide when to carry out any operation in the area.
The foreign fighters are said to be largely Uzbeks and Arabs. Of late, there have been reports of pale-skinned fighters being seen in Afghanistan.
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Tags: al qaeda, ali, arabs, attempts, clerics, daily jang, foreign fighters, foreign terrorists, forms of terrorism, june 21, local capital, north waziristan, pakistan army, religious scholars, suicide bombers, taliban, tenets, violence, violent activities, volatile area