国际英语新闻：Pakistan to send more troops to tribal area

ISLAMABAD, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Saturday that the campaign against militants is achieving success and more troops will be dispatched to Waziristan tribal area.

    Talking to newsmen here, Malik said the security forces have cleared many strongholds of the militants and are consolidating their positions in South Waziristan.

    The Interior Minister said that mobile and fixed scanners are being procured which will be installed at the federal Capital Islamabad and Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province, to check the activities of unscrupulous persons for prevention of terror incidents.

    He said a total of 77 masterminds of various terror activities have been arrested.

    The Interior Minister categorically denied the presence of American security agency Blackwater in Pakistan. He said a U.S. contractor company DynCorp is operating in Afghanistan to provide necessary supplies to the U.S. forces, and Pakistan is only facilitating the company to transport the supplies to Afghanistan.

    He said that he will quit his office if Blackwater was found operating anywhere in Pakistan.

    The Interior Minister added that a code of conduct is being developed for the security companies and license of those companies will be canceled who will not adhere to it.

    The Interior Minister denied the presence of Mullah Omar or any of his associate is in Pakistan, saying "if the U.S. has any information in this regard, it should share with us for action against them."

    He said during the visit of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) chief to Pakistan, the government shared its reservations on various matters including the supply of rocket launchers and other weapons from Afghanistan to terrorists in Pakistan.

    Malik said that he hoped the U.S. would take cognizance of the situation and take play its role to stop the supply of weapons into Pakistan.

    Pakistan has seen a wave of bombings over the last couple of weeks in its northwest as the army presses an offensive against the Taliban in the nearby Afghan border region.