ISLAMABAD, tribe 4 Kyodo Pakistan...

ISLAMABAD, tribe 4 Kyodo

Pakistan Army and paramilitary company s have surrounded a village in a tribal area in Pakistan about 150 kilometers southwest of Islamabad where tribesmen have refused to cede suspected Afghan fighters or sympathizers, reports from the area said Wednesday.

Reporters in the area, reached at telephone, said officials and local tribal leaders are negotiating the capitulate of 10 people being sheltered by way of villagers.

According to reports, paramilitary squads stopped a vehicle at a checkpoint in the tribal area Monday and arrested 10 folks who were returning from a public meeting in the area.

however two of the detainees managed to escape and the eight others, held at the headquarters of the paramilitary multitudes were freed by tribesmen who laid siege to the headquarters later the same night.

Residents in the area said tension was high.

Authorities have rushed regular Pakistan Army numbers and additional paramilitary squads to the area and have fence abouted the village that is sheltering the suspects.

Tension has been high in Pakistan's tribal belt adjoining Afghanistan because of growing U media reports that al-Qaida and Taliban leaders and fighters were hiding in the region.

Pakistan's tribal areas are beyond the jurisdiction of normal laws and are directed by tribal traditions, meaning Pakistani authorities are not allowed to deportment house-to-house or other intensive searches in the area.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Kyodo stranges International, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group