Getting your player ready...
ISLAMABAD —For the first time, political parties in Pakistan have started campaigning for votes in the militant-infested tribal areas that border Afghanistan, ahead of a general election likely within the next 12 months.
President Asif Ali Zardari in August lifted a 64-year ban on political-party activity in the seven federally administered tribal areas, saying the reforms would help defeat the “militant mind-set” there. However, politicians leading party campaigns in the tribal areas fear that intimidation by the Taliban and human-rights abuses by security authorities could make a free and fair election virtually impossible.
Denver Post wire services
