Pakistani army fights militants
| By Barbara Plett BBC News, Waziristan |
 Soldiers found the Taleban deeply entrenched in some areas |
They've brought journalists to the tribal area of South Waziristan, along the Afghan border, to back up their claims that they've beaten back pro-Taleban militants.
Mounds of bricks and twisted metal line the road - the mangled remains of a hospital complex, a small oil refinery, and a market place.
Brigadier Ali Abbas takes us through the ruins, an area he describes as a hub of rebel activity and a "bomb factory."
"There were certain buildings inside the hospital compound being used for making improvised explosive devices," he says.
"We found suicide jackets, detonating chords, wires and fuses. If we found anything used by the miscreants we destroyed it."
All these buildings have been demolished to punish locals for collaborating with the militants, according to the terms of harsh colonial laws inherited from the British.
Deeply entrenched
The army launched its campaign after daring attacks on paramilitary forts in the area by Baitullah Mehsud, the head of Pakistan's Taleban movement.
In the village, soldiers found the Taleban deeply entrenched.
 The army says it has dismantled the Taleban's capacity in the region |
"There was a kind of semi-autonomous state," says the divisional commander, General Tariq Khan, painting a picture of the Taleban's rule, "and if it was not contained last year, it would have spread to the Indus Highway."
The army claims to have dismantled part of the infrastructure feeding a campaign of suicide attacks in the country.
General Khan shows videos of training centres for child bombers discovered in the area, some as young as nine. Fifty-two were recovered, he says.
He downplays Western concerns that Arabs and Central Asians linked to al-Qaeda are regrouping under the protection of these tribal militants, saying that only two Uzbeks were killed in the fighting.
He accepts that many of the rebels escaped, but insists that at least in this part of South Waziristan, their military threat has been neutralised.
"What we're saying is that we've dismantled the capacity," he says, "the kind of preparations they've made, the kind of trenches, the kind of defences we've blown up, the kind of weapons systems - they will take time to re-establish it.
"That is where the government comes in - are they going to let this happen again?"
Human cost
The army says the government can now negotiate peace from a position of strength, pursuing a new and controversial policy of dialogue with Islamist militants.
The human cost, though, has been enormous.
The view from the army helicopter is eerie - clusters of mud-brick homes, nestled in pockets of forest at the foot of stark, jagged mountains, with not a soul in sight.
 General Khan says the army had to act to contain the militants |
General Tariq says some 200,000 people fled the area before the fighting.
A walk through one of the ghost towns shows evidence that they departed in haste - unmade beds, a hand-painted trunk left in the pathway. Crops and animals have been untended for months.
Some of the houses have also been demolished because they were used by the militants, again part of the colonial-era punishment designed to "get the tribes to take collective responsibility for what happens on their territory," says Brigadier Abbas.
He acknowledges, though, that this might also trigger resentment and a desire for revenge, especially as some - if not most - of the locals were forced to support the Taleban, or face beheading.
Peace talks
The brigadier's men have occupied the towns since the fighting ended in January.
They're preparing to pull back to give space to returning civilians. But they won't withdraw.
The siege on the area will be maintained by controlling the roads around it and all the entry and exit points, he says.
They're waiting for the outcome of the peace talks, and so is Nato, across the border in Afghanistan.
 Bringing peace in the tribal areas is a painstaking process |
It fears that peace deals here will strengthen the region as a base for the Afghan Taleban and its Pakistani supporters, and increase attacks against coalition forces.
The Americans have publicly opposed the policy of negotiation. And last week they fired missiles at suspected militants in the tribal areas, killing at least 13 people.
Many here saw this as an attempt to sabotage the peace process, and it wasn't only tribesmen who were angry.
"This helps none of the sides," says army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas.
"It is completely counterproductive. It creates pressure on the Pakistan government and army, and makes it very difficult to explain to the locals as to what the government's effort or its orientation is in this regard."
In the tribal areas, bringing peace is painstaking, he says - it has to be won area by area.
But with soldiers threatened in Afghanistan, America and Nato want speed and action - differing approaches that are difficult to bridge.
South America nations found union
 Some members hope Unasur could become a regional version of the EU |
The leaders of 12 South American nations have formed a regional body aimed at boosting economic and political integration in the region.
At a summit in Brazil, they signed a treaty which created the Union of South American Nations (Unasur).
Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the move showed that South America was becoming a "global player".
But tensions between several members will make it difficult for the group to achieve its goals, observers say.
Mr Lula said at the summit in Brasilia that the differences between some Unasur governments were a sign of vitality in the region.
"The instability some want to see in our continent is a sign of life, especially political life," Mr Lula said.
"There's no democracy without people [protesting] in the streets," he added.
The treaty envisages that Unasur will have a revolving presidency and bi-annual meetings of foreign ministers.
Prior to the Brasilia summit, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez described the "empire" of the United States as Unasur's "number one enemy".
Mr Chavez is embroiled in a bitter diplomatic row with his Colombian counterpart Alvaro Uribe - a staunch US ally - over Colombian claims that Venezuela has been helping to finance the activities of the Colombian Farc rebels.
The Unasur members are Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela.Georgian leader set for poll win
 President Mikhail Saakashvili urged Georgians to stay united |
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili says he is confident of victory for his ruling party in parliamentary polls.
Early official results indicate his United National Movement has 63% of the vote to the opposition's 13%, closely mirroring earlier exit polls.
Opposition supporters gathered in the capital Tbilisi for a late night protest, saying the vote was rigged, but numbers fell short of expectations.
International observers have described the poll as "uneven and incomplete".
In a statement the team from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said that: "Political stakeholders... made efforts to conduct yesterday's parliamentary election in line with international standards but a number of problems were identified which made their implementation uneven and incomplete".
The observers said that overall the election day was "calm and generally assessed positively" but that there " were numerous allegations of intimidation some of which could be verified".
The vote is being seen as a test of Georgia's commitment to democracy.
It took place amid fears of political unrest, and rising tensions between Georgia and Russia.
'Different picture'
"Even I was astonished by the big level of support which we got in these parliamentary elections," Mr Saakashvili said in comments quoted by Reuters.
"There are no final figures yet but there is a very high probability that the National Movement will get the number of seats in parliament that would be close to a constitutional majority."
 Opposition supporters gathered to protest, but not in great numbers |
Two-thirds of the parliament's 150 seats are needed for a constitutional majority under Georgian law.
The Central Election Commission has so far released results for about a quarter of the 3,664 precincts.
They suggested that as well as the two main parties, the Christian Democrats and the Labour Party would also win enough votes to take seats in parliament.
Soon after polls closed, leaders of the main opposition coalition were saying the vote had been rigged.
"There was total falsification, especially in the regions," said Georgy Gamkrelidze, a leader of the United Opposition Council.
"According to our data, the picture is totally different," he told Associated Press news agency.
The opposition called for protests in Tbilisi late on Wednesday night, saying tens of thousands would gather, but only about 1,000 people showed up.
The opposition's own partial results for the vote in Tbilisi were released, indicating the United Opposition had more than 40% and the United National Movement took 32%.
Protesters then watched live coverage of the Champions League final in Moscow between English teams Manchester United and Chelsea.
The opposition largely shares President Saakashvili's pro-Western leanings but say he has failed to tackle unemployment and corruption.
They are also angry about riot police being sent in to break up opposition protests last year and say the government has taken on authoritarian tendencies under President Saakashvili.
Acts of violence
Election day was marred by incidents of violence in or near the breakaway region of Abkhazia.
A bus carrying voters came under fire, leaving several people injured and sparking a gun battle that lasted for 20 minutes, witnesses said. The government blamed Abkhaz separatists.
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The opposition also said one of its activists was killed in a district bordering Abkhazia as he went out to vote.
"He was shot with a hunting rifle... We do not know who killed him but we demand an immediate investigation," said opposition leader David Gamkrelidze.
But the government says the killing was the result of a domestic dispute and was not politically motivated.
Abkhazia is at the heart of heightened tensions with Russia.
Moscow accuses Georgia of preparing to invade Abkhazia, where many residents hold Russian passports. Georgia says Russia is preparing to annex the region.
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