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| India-Pakistan |
| Pakistan peace deal depends on Sharia enforcement: Taliban |
| 2008-05-23 |
| Pakistani Taliban militants said Thursday that the success of a peace deal with the government in a northwestern area depends on the complete enforcement of Islamic law in the region. The agreement in the scenic Swat Valley ends months of fighting between troops and rebels loyal to a pro-Taliban commander, Maulana Fazlullah, who was campaigning for the introduction of harsh Sharia law. Under the terms of the deal signed on Wednesday the government agreed to gradually pull out troops and introduce an Islamic justice system, while the rebels said they would halt attacks and surrender arms. "We have accepted to give up the armed struggle because the government has agreed to the complete enforcement of the Sharia laws," Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan told AFP. "We are happy about the agreement but the success of it depends on the conduct of the government, especially in enforcing the Sharia laws," Khan said by telephone from an unknown location. Pakistan's new government launched negotiations with militants in Swat and separately in the lawless tribal areas bordering Afghanistan after routing President Pervez Musharraf's allies in elections in February. The army launched a major offensive in October to clear Swat of militants loyal to Fazlullah after they drove police and paramilitary forces from their posts and effectively established their own law. Dozens of people have died in suicide bombings in Swat over the past year. Residents said they were happy about the prospect of peace finally returning to the picturesque valley. "Thank God, we will be able to live peacefully and resume our normal lives," a shopkeeper in Mingora, the main town in Swat, told AFP. A senior government official in North West Frontier Province said secular courts would be assisted by an Islamic scholar to decide disputes according to Islamic laws, but a parallel mainstream judicial system would still function. "It will be the choice of the complainant whether to go for settlement according to Sharia or the Pakistan penal code," the official said. The United States said Wednesday it would "reserve judgment" on the peace deal and would monitor how effective it was in stopping attacks. Pakistan is a key partner in the US-led "war on terror" launched after the 9/11 attacks. "We'll see. We'll reserve judgment on these things," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters. UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Marie Guehenno meanwhile said during a visit to Afghanistan that the world body would "watch closely" the peace deal. "Certainly any cross-border movement is bad, is dangerous," he told reporters. "We will watch closely the situation in the area concerned and make sure that the situation does not deteriorate on the other side of the border." US, NATO and Afghan officials have criticised previous peace deals in Pakistan, saying that they have led to an increase in suicide attacks on international and Afghan forces across the border in Afghanistan. Taliban spokesman Khan said the United States and Britain should "mind their own business and stop interfering in Pakistan's internal affairs." The 15-point peace deal in Swat also says that the militants had agreed to shut down training camps, but Khan denied there were any training centres to prepare suicide bombers in the district. Khan said a committee would decide about the release of some 100 men who were arrested by security forces. "About an amnesty for Maulana Fazlullah's followers, any decision will be taken later. He has thousands of followers," Khan said. |
| Posted by:Fred |