Unrest simmers in Pakistan province

The area has enormous reserves of natural resources - resources that the people of Baluchistan say are not being shared fairly with them.

The capital of Baluchistan is Quetta, from where Kamal Hyder, Al Jazeera's correspondent, sent the first in a series of special reports from the province.

Journeys are not easy in Baluchistan. The landscape is vast and rugged. If it's not desert, it's mountains. A troubled region, foreigners are rarely welcome.

Beneath the mountains lie rich reserves of gas and copper. The people who live here want their share of the wealth, and some want to be free of Pakistan's control.

The Baluch separatists are led by Balach Marri, an elected member of the provincial assembly.

He is a secretive man - now in hiding from government forces.

He has never before spoken to an international television network.

Balach's men promised their leader would call us and speak to us in person, but not before they were satisfied that we were willing to tell their story. They filmed our interview with an elder who said he was mistreated in prison and needs a walking stick now.

Struggle going 'very well'

Balach Marri kept his word and called us on a satellite phone from an undisclosed location.

He said: "In my opinion, the situation for the struggle of an independent Baluchistan is going ahead very well.

More
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/0ADA0C78-0ECA-4090-B56B-DCCB85853F4F.htm