Militants withdraw threat to behead abducted soldiers
by Mushtaq Yusufzai & Sailab Mahsud
A pro-Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal tribal senator said on Monday the militant commander holding 300 soldiers hostage in South Waziristan had withdrawn his threat to behead five soldiers a day due to the efforts of a Jirga.

Senator Maulana Saleh Shah, who belongs to South Waziristan and is affiliated to the JUI-F and MMA, is heading a 100-member Jirga to secure release of the abducted soldiers. He said commander of the militants had earlier conveyed to the Jirga that he would start killing five soldiers every day and send their bodies to the Pakistan Army base at the Frontier Corps (FC) Fort in Jandola.

Shah was part of the Jirga that held extensive talks with the militants to secure the release of around 300 security personnel, who were taken hostage by the militants last Thursday along with 16 vehicles and ammunitions in South Waziristan.

He said Commander Baitullah Mahsud was angry over the detention of his tribesmen by the government and threatened to behead five hostages daily if the government did not release all of them and stopped their arrest.

The Maulana said the militants at the request of the Jirga withdrew their threat and asked them to convoy their message to the government officials to immediately release all the innocent detained tribal people.

As a sign of goodwill gesture the government on Monday released all the 80 Mahsud tribesmen, arrested under territorial responsibility clause of the Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR). They had been arrested soon after the security personnel were made hostages by the tribal militants in their area.
...

http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=9916

Govt yielding to pressure; 100 tribesmen freed: Troops held hostage number about 300
by Ismail Khan
Militants holding hundreds of soldiers hostage have demanded withdrawal of forces from the restive South Waziristan tribal region and release of 15 alleged would-be suicide bombers in government custody, an official told Dawn.

“The militants have made certain demands but it does not mean that we will accept them. It will be managed,” the official said.

He acknowledged that the Taliban were holding close to 300 army and paramilitary personnel, including some senior officers.

Maulana Esamuddin, a member of the Mehsud tribal jirga, endorsed the official’s statement and said the authorities had asked them to help secure the release of 270 troops.
...

http://www.dawn.com/2007/09/04/top1.htm