Gunmen Kill 8 Pakistani Tribal Elders

Men Murdered Hours Before Scheduled Meeting To Discuss Truce Effort

(CBS/AP)  Suspected Islamic militants fatally shot eight tribal leaders involved in efforts to broker a cease-fire between security forces and insurgents in northwestern Pakistan, authorities said Monday.

The men were killed in separate attacks late Sunday and early Monday in South Waziristan, a mountainous region close to Afghanistan where al Qaeda and Taliban militants are known to operate, according to a security official and a military statement.

Gunmen killed three of the men at a market in Wana, the region's main town, while the other five were shot to death in attacks at their homes in a town north of Wana, the official said. He did not give his name because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The men were scheduled to meet on Monday in Wana to discuss ongoing efforts to negotiate peace between Pakistani forces and the militants, the official said. The government is encouraging moderate tribal elders to broker a cease-fire in the region, but there has been little sign of success.

Meanwhile, a suicide attacker detonated a bomb near a guest house where military officers were staying Monday in a volatile mountain valley in northwestern Pakistan, wounding one person, authorities said.

The bomber, who blew himself up when he was stopped by soldiers at a checkpoint, was killed and one other person was wounded, according to a military official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The attack happened in the town of Kabal in the Swat region, a former tourist resort where security forces have been battling loyalists of a pro-Taliban cleric.

The Pakistan-Afghanistan border area has long been considered a likely hiding place for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his top deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, and the United States has pressured the government of President Pervez Musharraf to crack down on militants operating in the area.

On Sunday, Pakistan reiterated that it will not let American forces hunt for al Qaeda and Taliban militants on its soil, after a report in The New York Times said the Bush administration was considering expanding U.S. military and intelligence operations into Pakistan's tribal regions.

The Pakistani government also has blamed Baitullah Mehsud, a South Waziristan-based militant leader with links to al Qaeda, in the Dec. 27 assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto. Mehsud has reportedly denied involvement, and many Bhutto backers accuse elements within the government of playing a role in her killing.

[slpdisk]

Right, cause these people don''t want peace. Oh now I get it.Lets talk more about security and diminish more of our civil rights. Do I hear a national I.D. card on the way.

[rgmiron]

liberalme I understand where you are coming from but it is critical we have a presence for that reason. We should never had developed that region of the world,in the first place! We may have over estimated their ability and desire for self rule. We must not give up, but should that be the case, be perpared to Let Go and survive.

[yongamerica]

Here is how the Taliban work closely with the locals to insure its integration. These terrorists have no concern for others. Murder to them is like a bow el movement.

[liberalme]

I think Bush is going on the premise of--the last time we had fights with tribes--we won!

Bring our troops home, protect America== those people were killing each other before we went there and will be killing each other long after we''re gone.

[yongamerica]

Irrelevant Iran. - FloydZepp
Callin Iran irrelevant is like calling the two bands you made your name from insignificant to rock and roll. Get out of your cloud and take a hard look at the big picture. And the big picture goes back into the mid 1800s.

[afmca]

When are the Islamic nations going to realize that these terrorists are harming them more than they are harming their so-called Christian enemy. How many more Muslims have alQaeda and their associated terrorist cells killed than their infidel enemies? They are just uneducated, bigoted thugs - if the world came together and crushed them - everyone would be better off.