Pakistanis reject religious hard-liners

Not far from Ali's store, 25-year old Rafiullah said he voted for the religious parties in 2002 but this time cast his ballot for the late Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, which is expected to be part of the provincial coalition government.

"We voted for the (Islamists) before because they promised to change things, to make life better for us, to end the corruption and to bring a good life. But they didn't," he said. "They just brought restrictions. And look — we are afraid of bombs and rockets all the time."

Despite revulsion against the militants, there is little support here for the U.S.-backed war against terror — especially if it involves American soldiers here.

"We don't support any foreign army in Pakistan," said Khan, the retired soldier.

The provincial leader of the Awami party, Afrasiab Khattak, also wants the Pakistani army, dominated by ethnic Punjabis and considered foreigners by the local Pashtuns, to leave the tribal areas.

Mixed signals
Khattak said the army had worsened the situation by sending mixed signals to the militants —long using them as proxies to fight India in disputed Kashmir while now striking at them on Pakistani soil.

"We have to make the Pashtuns who are involved in extremism sit down and we have to talk to them," Khattak said. "Most of those who are involved are absolutely mistaken, misguided and brainwashed."

Instead, Khattak wants to reach out to the militants with incentives such as jobs and educational opportunities. Those who continue to fight should be dealt with through "good intelligence and strategic strikes not brute force," he said, adding his government would also not allow U.S. soldiers to be deployed in Pakistan.

"This is not our war," Khattak added. "It is imposed upon us. We don't want any foreigners on our land. As Pashtuns, we can solve the problem of extremism."

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