Pakistan to talk with militants on anti-polio ban

Pakistani authorities will try to persuade militants in a northwest tribal area to lift a ban on anti-polio vaccination teams imposed in protest at US drone strikes, officials said yesterday.
Local warlord Hafiz Gul Bahadur Saturday banned the anti-polio campaign in North Waziristan, a Taliban and al-Qaeda-infested region bordering Afghanistan.
"We have requested the governor of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to direct the political agent (administrator) of North Waziristan to open a dialogue with this group," a senior government official told AFP.