People's Daily : Akbar Bugti Chooses Way of Extremism: Official

Akbar Bugti chooses way of extremism: official

Xinhua | September 6, 2006

A Pakistani official has claimed that Nawab Akbar Bugti, who died late August in a remote cave, chose the way of extremism and confrontation and he was not seriously involved in the dialog process initiated by the government.

According to a report Tuesday by the official PTV, Owais Ahmed Ghani, governor of Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan, said that no one could deny that the government had tried and made efforts for the negotiated settlement of the issue for two and a half years.

He said that the government had made efforts very actively and sincerely. A dialog process was evolved to resolve the issues politically. But, he said, unfortunately, on the contrary to government efforts of resolving issues, the way of extremism was adopted.

Gas installations in the province were attacked, innocent people targeted, personnel of security agencies attacked, the governor said, adding that mines were laid down and bomb blasts also hit the province. In Balochistan, extremists remained involved in subversive activities continuously, he said.

Ghani said that the government showed maximum restraint and continued the dialog process. He said that the government made every effort to settle things peacefully there but, Akbar Bugti selected the way of confrontation.

Nawab Akbar Bugti, born in 1927, was a former chief minister of Balochistan. The chief of the Bugti tribe went underground last year, joining militants who have been waging an armed insurgency for a long time.

Pakistani Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Tariq Azim Khan Monday told a new briefing here that the death of Nawab Akbar Bugti was not the result of target killing, but that of explosion which occurred inside his mountainous hideout.

Earlier reports have said that the anti-government Bugti tribal leader, along with dozens of followers, were killed on Aug. 26 by security forces in a major operation at Tartani in the Kohlu area of Balochistan.

Source: Xinhua