[Dawn] Provincial authorities said they rejected Friday Sufi Mohammad's request to halt an offensive against Taliban militants as peace talks between the two camps resumed.Talks between the North West Frontier Province's government and Sufi Mohammad, who negotiated the peace accord in Swat valley, resumed Friday in a northwestern district, Sufi's spokesman said. Government officials and Sufi Mohammad met for the first time Friday after talks were suspended Monday when the army launched an offensive against Taliban fighters in the northwest.
Provincial officials and supporters of Mohammad described the 30-minute meeting as 'positive' but no date for a second meeting was announced. 'Sufi Mohammad asked us to halt the operation,' NWFP's information minister, Iftikhar Hussain, told AFP. 'The operation will be halted when the armed people lay down their weapons because the government has to establish its writ at any cost,' he added.
| 'The government has given us assurances that the operation in Buner and Lower Dir will be finished.' |
Friday's meeting also discussed Islamic judges and the creation of an appellate court under a February deal in which the government agreed to put Malakand, a part of northwestern Pakistan, under sharia law to end a Taliban insurgency. Sufi Mohammad negotiated the accord. 'The appointments of judges of the Islamic courts will be made soon,' said the provincial information minister.
Sufi Mohammad, who was previously jailed by Pakistan for leading thousands of supporters into Afghanistan to fight against the 2001 US-led invasion, rejected government-appointed judges saying they were not properly versed in sharia.
When asked about a next round of dialogue, Iftikhar said: 'God willing, the second round of talks will be held soon.'