"It's alleged thousands of people in Pakistan's tribal areas have been rounded up by security forces. Here, all politicians are distrusted, particularly Musharraf for his close relationship with Washington.

"This government kills us", claims an old man in the village of Kala Bagh. Unemployment here is high and no one expects things to improve after the elections. "They make the same promises every five years when elections come", complains one man. In these frontier provinces, Islamic parties who want to impose Sharia Law now have political power. Allegedly, the threat posed by militant Islamists prompted the introduction of emergency law last year. But the main motivation could have been to stop a court process which would shed light on the abduction of thousands of citizens by security forces." journeymanpictures