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Rebellion flares over Pakistan gas

DERA BUGTI, Pakistan - Outside this tense desert town, tribesmen with guns sit in bunkers near the roadside. Bullet casings from a recent bloody clash with security forces litter the asphalt.

The tribe's charismatic chieftain, Nawab Akbar Bugti, has long dominated this remote corner of southwestern Pakistan - site of the country's richest gas fields. Now the weak authority of the government is strained to the breaking point.

Last week, an explosion of violence killed dozens of people, including eight soldiers, risking another security crisis for President Pervez Musharraf - whose armed forces already are deployed by the tens of thousands elsewhere to counter al-Qaida and Taliban militants along the border with Afghanistan.

On Tuesday, a delegation of 15 government and opposition lawmakers traveled to restive Baluchistan province to try to defuse the tribal rebellion - traveling a road to Dera Bugti that has been off-limits to security forces for five days.

Armed tribesmen stood sentinel on the craggy mountainside along the road, where every few miles they had laid piles of rocks to block traffic. A military truck with a shot-out windshield sat abandoned after an ambush during the March 17 fighting.

Maj. Gen. Shujaat Zamir Dar, the Frontier Corps commander for Baluchistan, says Bugti has a private army of 3,000 to 4,000 and is bent on perpetuating his feudal-style dominance of the region. He also is blamed for a deadly rocket attack on a nearby gas field in January that interrupted supplies across Pakistan.

"Nawab Akbar Bugti wants to maintain his personal rule" in the region, Dar told visiting lawmakers. "There's no government. . . . The nazim (district mayor) is ineffective. The government is Nawab Akbar Bugti."

Bugti, who is about 80 and has led the tribe for decades, accuses the central government of pillaging Baluchistan's natural resources while locals live in poverty.

"Everyone is after our Baluch national wealth. We don't get anything out of it," he said.

Bugti is said to receive about $1.7-million a year from the state gas company in lease fees, and the province receives a portion of the gas profits, though local leaders say that is not enough.

Bugti accused security forces of provoking last week's fighting. He said shelling in the town killed more than 60 locals, including 32 minority Hindus and women and children. The Frontier Corps says it acted with restraint, but said some civilians might have died.

The chiefs of the Frontier Corps, who say they have 400 troops at a base in Dera Bugti, hinted at stronger military action unless the road to Dera Bugti was cleared of armed tribesmen.

Bugti has been ruthless in maintaining his dominance of the Bugtis and commands great loyalty among them - although there is little sign in the dirt-poor town that he has used his wealth to improve the lives of its people.

He is protected by a tribal militia that could be badly outgunned if security forces launched a major military operation. But by taking such a step, the government could provoke a guerrilla war.

"This standoff has no military solution," said visiting lawmaker Sherry Rehman.

[Last modified March 24, 2005, 01:40:34]