Swat-based Taliban have suspended contact with the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) government to protest against the slow progress on a peace agreement they inked less than a month ago, a Taliban spokesman said on Tuesday. Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan told Daily Times by telephone that “some elements were interfering in the peace process,” as a result of which Taliban had decided to temporarily freeze contact with the provincial government.
Contact with the NWFP government has been suspended for “a period of one week to see if the government takes steps to accelerate the progress on issues discussed in the May 21 peace agreement,” said the spokesman for rebel cleric Maulana Fazlullah. He said the provincial government had already been told about the decision.
Delay in release: The spokesman said a delay in the release of Taliban prisoners had forced the decision. “Under the agreement, the prisoners should have been freed 15 days after the deal,” said Khan. Eighteen Taliban prisoners were set free by the government following the peace deal while another 55 are still in prison. NWFP Information Minister Iftikhar Hussain has however said they were not told about any such decision.
Hussain told Daily Times that there had been no severing of contact, though admitted that the Taliban had complained of the slow progress.