Islamic Emirate of Waziristan

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Area controlled by the "Islamic Emirate of Waziristan" shown in dark green

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.^[1]^[2]

1 Description
2 Leadership structure
3 A true state?
4 References
5 External links

[edit] 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."^[2] 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. ^[3]

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.^[4] 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.^[5]

Details of the agreement may be found under Waziristan accord.

[edit] Leadership structure

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.^[6]

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.^[6]

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^[7], 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:^[8]

"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."

[edit] 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.^[9] 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.^[10] 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"^[11]