Balochistan peace dialogue urged

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/south_asia/5346138.stm

Version 0 of 1.

An influential think-tank has called on Pakistan to stop military action against nationalist militants in the restive province of Balochistan.

The International Crisis Group urged the government to talk with political parties to resolve the conflict.

It warned that conflict in gas-rich Balochistan could intensify if the government pressed on with an offensive against rebels fighting for autonomy.

The province has been in turmoil since a top rebel was killed last month.

Federal Information Minister Mohammed Ali Durrani rejected the report, telling the BBC many organisations compiled reports from information downloaded from the internet.

'Low-key insurgency'

"By choosing confrontation, the Musharraf government bears responsibility for the state of the conflict," the ICG report said.

"The only one way out is to end all military action, release political prisoners and respect constitutionally guaranteed political freedoms."

The report says that tension has risen since Bugti's death

The report says that militants in Balochistan - Pakistan's most sparsely developed and least populated province - have waged a "low-key insurgency" for decades.

But it says that tension has risen since tribal leader Nawab Akbar Bugti was killed in a battle between tribal militants and government forces in August.

Noting that several people had been killed in violent street protests and bomb blasts that followed Bugti's death, the report says that people in the province are unhappy about a lack of political representation.

It says they complain that Balochistan's resources are used to the benefit of Pakistan's other provinces - especially Punjab - while Balochistan is neglected.

'Sheer force'

The ICG report says demands by the nationalists for more autonomy have widespread support among the population of the province, which contains the country's largest reserves of natural gas.

It says that the government cannot deal with the problem solely through force.

Clashes in Balochistan have been commonplace

"The military government should recognise that it faces conflict not with a handful of sardars [tribal chiefs], but with a broad-based movement for political, economic and social empowerment," the group said.

"The military can retain control over Balochistan's territory through sheer force, but it cannot defeat an insurgency that has local support."

Government officials say a handful of tribal chiefs are behind the trouble in the province, because they fear their power base would be eroded by government plans to develop the region.

President Musharraf has pledged major infrastructure projects in Balochistan to win back lost support, while also promising to deal firmly with the militants.

A spokesman for the Balochistan government, Razir Bugti, told the BBC Urdu service that people in the province were generally happy with government policies and only two out of four Baloch parties were involved in the insurgency.

He said the army operation launched at the start of the year had now been halted. The government had tried to solve problems through talks in the past and would do so again, he added.