'Militants' kill pro-government cleric

Suspected militants killed a prominent Islamic cleric in a tribal region in north western Pakistan because they believed he had cooperated with authorities who are hunting them, intelligence officials said tonight.

The body of Janat Mir Khan was found early today near Zeraki village in the North Waziristan tribal area, a week after he was abducted.

Khan, 55, had been shot in the chest, intelligence officials said.

Another official said Khan had survived a bomb explosion near his home in January and had received letters from militants warning him not to cooperate with authorities.

Khan frequently attended meetings with government security officials in Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan, and in Peshawar, the capital of the North West Frontier province, agents said.

Islamic militants are suspected of killing scores of tribesmen, whom they accuse of assisting authorities or of spying for the US.

Khan’s killers left a note with his body threatening the same fate for anyone else found cooperating with the government, the intelligence officials said.

Security officials have said Arab, Central Asian and Afghan militants - allegedly linked with al-Qaida – are in the North and adjoining South Waziristan tribal regions. They have fought intense battles with security forces and have been blamed for roadside bombings targeting troops in both areas.

But most fighting in recent months has been blamed on tribal militants suspected of links with Afghanistan’s ousted Taliban militia.

Since January, gunbattles between militants and security forces, rocket attacks and roadside bombings have left 51 soldiers and 317 militants dead.

Earlier today, militants announced that they would not launch any attacks against the government until May 11 to maintain peace for a three-day Islamic religious meeting in Miran Shah, said Gul Daraz, local leader of the Tablighi Jamaat or Group of Preachers holding the gathering.