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Most of these persons are illiterates, and can only recite parts of the Qu'ran. They learned it in the local madrassa. Musharraf has allocated money in the new budget for real scools.
Nek contracted Malaria a few weeks ago, a not uncommon fate in these areas.

Here is more info on the end of Nek.
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=531765&section=news

Pakistan kills pro-al Qaeda tribal leader
Fri 18 June, 2004 09:43

By Hafiz Wazir

WANA, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani forces have killed a top tribal warrior and four comrades who had sheltered al Qaeda fighters in overnight raids on a mud compound in a remote tribal region bordering Afghanistan, officials say.

Nek Mohammad, who protected al Qaeda-linked foreign militants in the semi-autonomous South Waziristan tribal belt, was killed near the region's main town of Wana, 400 km (250 miles) southwest of Islamabad, an intelligence official said on Friday requesting anonymity.

Military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan said the military attacked Mohammad's hideout overnight after receiving reports that he had taken refuge there.

"He has been killed with four other terrorists," Sultan said in Islamabad. "It is a big success in the war against terror," he added, refusing to give further details of the operation.

Pakistan has been battling al Qaeda-linked militants and tribesmen sheltering them for months in a campaign to rid the country of Islamic radicals.

Up to 600 foreign militants, including Uzbeks, Arabs and Chechens who joined the U.S.-funded insurgency against Soviet forces in Afghanistan in the 1980s, are believed to be living in tribal areas, although dozens have been killed in recent clashes.

Thousands of mourners gathered for Mohammad's funeral in the village of Kalosha, near Wana. People wept and many at first refused to believe the turbaned and black-bearded 27-year-old had been killed.

His body lay on a low cot wrapped in a white sheet, his face showing scars and bruises, witnesses said.

Mohammad Noor, a local tribesman who saw the warrior die in hospital, said he had lost a leg in overnight fighting and one arm was badly wounded.

"He was a brave man," said Noor. "His last words were 'Allahu Akbar' (God is Greatest)."

In an interview with Reuters last month, Mohammad extolled the virtues of the "jihad", or holy war in cases where he said Muslims were repressed by infidels.

He joined the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan when the United States launched its war to topple the hardline militia in late 2001, but aides said he had not fought there since.

FEAR OF BACKLASH

The death of Mohammad raises fresh fears of a violent backlash by militants in Pakistani cities, senior officials said.

A wave of deadly attacks on religious and military targets in the southern port city of Karachi in recent months has been linked to operations against militants and their tribal allies.

In the latest crackdown in tribal areas that ended last week, more than 56 militant suspects and 17 soldiers were killed.

The Pakistani military said the government would continue to pursue a political solution to tribal issues after an April deal whereby foreign fighters who registered with the government would be granted amnesty fell through.

Mohammad was one of five tribesmen who surrendered to the government in that deal but he brought in no foreigners.

U.S. forces in Afghanistan have been urging Pakistan to do more to root out what they call "terrorists" in tribal areas.

The 20,000-strong U.S.-led force wants to create a "hammer and anvil" effect along the rugged border between the two countries to trap al Qaeda and Taliban fighters, possibly including Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri.

Previous Pakistani operations have netted no top al Qaeda and Taliban figures, and Afghan officials say Islamabad has failed to crack down on militants it says cross into Afghanistan to wage a bloody insurgency ahead of elections in September.