Authorities on Thursday pardoned a Taliban leader with suspected links to Al Qaeda after he renounced terrorism and pledged loyalty to the government. Maulvi Faqir Mohammad agreed not to participate “in any terrorist activity in the country and pledged support to the government in defending the country’s borders,” local administration chief Shakil Qadir told AFP. Mohammad, from Bajaur, succeeded Maulvi Liaqat who died in a military airstrike on a religious school that killed 80 people in October.
Mohammad signed a formal agreement with the 12-member jirga promising that he would cooperate with the government in maintaining stability of the country and defence of its borders, Qadir said. “All doubts and suspicions about him had been removed” after the jirga met Faqir and his supporters in his home village of Damadola on Thursday, Qadir said. |