Suspected militants killed eight tribal leaders involved in efforts to broker a cease-fire between security forces and fighters in northwestern Pakistan, a security official said Monday.

The men were shot in separate attacks late Sunday and early Monday in South Waziristan, a mountainous region close to Afghanistan where al-Qaida and Taliban militants are known to operate, the official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make comments to the media.

The Pakistan-Afghanistan border area has long been considered a likely hiding place for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and his top deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri. The United States has pressured the government of President Pervez Musharraf to crack down on militants operating in the area.

On Sunday, Pakistan reiterated that it will not let American forces hunt al-Qaida and Taliban militants on its soil, after a report in The New York Times said that the Bush administration was considering expanding U.S. military and intelligence operations into Pakistan's tribal regions.

PHOTO CAPTION

A Pakistan's Army soldier sits on an armored vehicle as he monitors the area of Matta near Mangora, the main town of Pakistani district Swat along Afghan border, Sunday, Jan. 6, 2008.

AP