(16 Jul 2007) SHOTLIST
Islamabad
1. Mid shot of Pakistani Foreign Office spokeswoman
2. Wide shot of journalist attending press conference
3. SOUNDBITE: (English) Tasanam Aslam, Pakistani Foreign Office spokeswoman:
"Deal with the tribal elders in Waziristan, North Waziristan. As far as government of Pakistan is concerned, the deal has been not scuttled by the government. The government remains in dialogue with the tribal elders."
4. Wide shot of journalist at the end of press briefing
Dera Ismail Khan
++ALL MUTE EXCEPT SOUNDBITE++
5. Various street scenes of Dera Ismail Khan
6. Various of security in Dera Ismail Khan
7. Wide of hospital where injured from Sunday's suicide bombing were taken
8. Close up of hospital sign
9. Wide of people and injured in hospital ward
10. Close and zoom out of wound of injured man
11. Injured man being covered up again
12. SOUNDBITE: (English) Jhan Zaib, doctor at the hospital:
"The number of dead bodies is 27, including the suicide bomber. The number of the injured people received is 61."
13. Various of spot where bomb blast happened on Sunday
STORYLINE:
Pakistani officials were trying on Monday to save a peace deal which is supposed to contain militants near the Afghan border, despite U.S. concern that it has provided the Taliban and al-Qaida with an increasingly safe haven.
Pro-Taliban militants in the lawless North Waziristan region announced the end of the 10-month-old agreement amid weekend bombings and suicide attacks that killed more than 70 people across the northwest, most of them police and soldiers.
A delegation of government-backed tribal elders held negotiations on Monday with militant leaders in North Waziristan's main town of Miran Shah, an intelligence official said.
The Foreign Ministry confirmed that talks were in progress.
The peace agreement "has not been scuttled by the government. The government remains in dialogue with the tribal elders," said ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam.
The militants were being urged to stick with the agreement and told that the government would compensate people who had suffered from earlier military operations, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity since he was not authorised to speak to the press.
The violence has added to a sense of crisis in Pakistan and challenged the ability of President General Pervez Musharraf to confront Islamic extremism just as he faces a growing pro-democracy movement ahead of year-end elections.
The government has deployed thousands of troops to restive areas of the northwest in recent days in hopes of stemming a backlash from the mosque raid.
But they failed to prevent weekend suicide attacks and bombings which killed a total of 73 people.
On Sunday, two suicide bombers and a roadside bomb struck a military convoy near Swat, while a suicide bomber targeted scores of people taking exams for recruitment to the police in the city of Dera Ismail Khan.
Dera Ismail Khan was on high alert on Monday, with police checking vehicles leaving and entering the city, said Gul Afzal Afridi, a senior police officer.
Investigators have collected samples from parts of the suspected suicide bomber's body for DNA testing, Afridi said.
Jhan Zaib, doctor at the local hospital in Dera Ismail Khan confirmed that the hospital had received a total of 27 dead bodies over the week-end and 61 injured.
Since the mosque siege began on July 3, 105 people have died in militant attacks, almost all of them in the northwest, according to an Associated Press count compiled from official sources.
Among them were 72 members of the security forces.
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