Pakistan yesterday freed 50 tribesmen arrested last month in a major counter-terrorism operation near the Afghan border.

　　Officials said investigations had proved them innocent.

　　They were freed a day after five powerful tribal leaders who had been targeted in the same operation for allegedly harboring al-Qaida fugitives were granted amnesty in return for a promise to live peacefully and not help terrorists.

　　They are among 163 foreign and local militants arrested during the bloody army operation in March that left more than 120 people dead.

　　"By releasing these 50 people, the government has honored its commitment which was made by the corps commander yesterday," an official said.

　　The five released on Saturday offered an army general a Kalashnikov assault rifle and a Koran as symbolic gifts.

　　The deal could end months of bloody confrontation between tribesmen and Pakistan's army in the lawless region of South Waziristan, but may unnerve the United States, eager for more tough action by Pakistan in the war on terror.

　　South Waziristan has long been believed to be a possible hideout for Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri.

　　The amnesty was formalized at a ceremony attended by senior Pakistani government and military officials and by 10,000 tribesmen at Shakai village, 25 kilometers north of Wana, the main town in the region.

　　The five Zali Khel tribesmen, who had been accused of harboring al-Qaida men and have hundreds of armed followers, promised to live peacefully, be loyal to Pakistan and not take part in any terrorist activity - an assurance backed by a guarantee from their tribe.

　　The 50 released yesterday were captured in Pakistan's largest anti-terrorism operation since Islamabad threw its support behind the US campaign in Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks on the United States.

　　Regional military commander Lieutenant General Safdar Hussain said foreigners with wives and children in the region - previously branded as terrorists - would also receive amnesty if they surrendered by the end of the month.

　　"But if they don't accept this offer by April 30, we will use force against them, which is the last option," Hussain said.

　　Many of the foreign inhabitants of the region, including Arabs and Central Asians, are veterans of the war against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s who later settled in Pakistan.

　　The amnesty could disappoint Pakistan's American allies fighting Taliban holdouts and al-Qaida militants in Afghanistan, who have praised the government's recent crackdown in the tribal areas and made clear they expected more.

　　"If this is a political process and a means to an end, clearly that's a good thing, but I think we expect Pakistani action there," US military spokesman in Afghanistan, Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Beevers, said of the amnesty.

　　Army spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan said the tribesmen granted amnesty could now live as ordinary citizens, but it did not mean Pakistan had abandoned the anti-terror war.

　　(The Associated Press)