Four killed as Pakistani tribals refuse to disarm

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Apr 23 (Reuters) A paramilitary trooper and three tribesmen were killed today in a shoot-out in a restive Pakistani tribal region, as authorities tried to enforce a ban on carrying arms, officials said.

The firefight broke out near Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, where close to 300 people have died in clashes between security forces and pro-Taliban tribal militants since early March.

Tribesmen in a minibus opened fire after being ordered to hand over weapons at a checkpoint near a cemetery on the outskirts of the town.

''Four men were killed, including three attackers and one Frontier Corps trooper, in an exchange of fire at the cemetery checkpost,'' an intelligence official told Reuters.

He described the attackers as militants, and said two others had been arrested.

There is widespread support for the Taliban and al Qaeda among the deeply-conservative tribesmen and the ban on carrying arms in public has struck another nerve.

The fiercely independent Pashtun tribes of the area regard a display of weapons as part of their cultural identity, and Kalashnikovs and bandoliers are commonly referred to as ''Pashtun jewellery''.

After the clash, shopkeepers pulled down shutters in the main bazaar and helicopter gunships hovered overhead.

Hours earlier, militants distributed leaflets through the town urging tribesmen not to surrender weapons.

The leaflets urged paramilitary troops, who are drawn from the tribes, to desert and fight against ''Zionism and Christianity'' instead of taking sides with ''infidels''.

''Don't spoil your faith for a few rupees. You must quit the ranks of infidels in the war between America and Islam,'' read a leaflet.

Remnants of al Qaeda and Afghanistan's former Taliban rulers remain in Waziristan and other border areas after being ousted from Afghanistan by US-led forces in late 2001. Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is believed to have passed through the area during his escape.

Pakistan has sent close to 80,000 troops into the tribal belt to root out foreign militants, but they have faced fierce resistance from tribesmen who resent the army's presence.

REUTERS SRS PM1504