Taliban forces in Pakistan's restive valley of Swat, in talks Friday with a cleric who signed a peace deal with the government earlier this week, refused to disarm until Islamic sharia is completely enforced in the region, a Taliban spokesman said, dpa reported.
Maulana Sufi Mohammad, the top signatory of the Monday's peace deal with regional government in North West Frontier Province, tried to convince his son-in-law and Taliban leader in Swat, Maulana Fazlullah, to abandon violence in the talks held at an undisclosed location.
"The two leaders expressed satisfaction over the peace accord," said Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan, speaking by telephone. "But it has been made clear that Taliban will not lay down their weapons till the sharia is completely enforced."
However, Khan hoped that the sides will reach on consensus in a couple of days.
Fazlullah has lead the Islamist insurgency in Swat, formerly a popular tourist destination, and surrounding areas since late 2007 in seeking to impose Taliban rule.
The insurgency prompted a security operation that has left more than 1,200 civilians dead and caused a mass exodus from the war-torn region located about 160 kilometres north-west of Islamabad.
Seeking to achieve peace, the NWFP government on Monday signed an accord with Mohammad and agreed to set-up Islamic courts in the Malakand region, where Swat and six other districts are located.
Mohammad has shunned the violence since he was released in early 2008 from a seven-year detention for sending thousands of fighters to Afghanistan to resist US-led international forces in that country.
But the Western governments and the liberals in Pakistan say the country has yielded to Taliban militants and the development may result in more sanctuaries for Islamist insurgents to launch cross- border attacks on NATO forces in Afghanistan, and in the spread of Taliban's power in more areas.
Richard Holbrooke, the special US envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, told the television news network CNN on Thursday that he had called Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari to express US concern over a deal with the Swat Islamists and warned not to let the agreement to "turn into surrender."
The American diplomat said Zardari assured him that it was merely an "interim arrangement" to stabilize the Swat region.
NATO has expressed the same worries over the deal, which has yet to be approved by Zardari.
Indian Defence Minister AK Antony on Friday described the new development as something that adds to his government's worries.
"From 26/11 (the Mumbai terrorist attacks) onwards, we are very much concerned about the security scenario," he was quoted as saying by PTI news agency.
...