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| India-Pakistan |
| Pakistan militants declare ceasefire |
| 2009-02-24 |
| A TALIBAN commander today ordered militants to disband checkpoints and charities to leave Pakistan's Swat valley after calling an indefinite ceasefire following a nearly two-year insurgency. The announcement came eight days after the government signed a controversial deal agreeing to accept Islamic law as the only system of justice in Swat, 160 kilometres from Islamabad and once Pakistan's only ski resort. The local government hailed the truce as a step toward permanent peace as the military vowed to continue to hold fire in the valley, where thousands of people have fled the violence, but analysts warned it was unlikely to last. The sharia deal has triggered alarm in the United States, Europe, Afghanistan and India, amid concerns it will embolden militants in North West Frontier Province, which is rife with Taliban and al-Qaeda extremists. The ceasefire announcement applies to Swat but not to vast areas elsewhere in northwest Pakistan where Taliban and al-Qaeda extremists are holed up. Militant leader Maulana Fazlullah convened a consultative council today and agreed to extend a 10-day ceasefire, which had been scheduled to expire tomorrow, and to release prisoners, his spokesman Muslim Khan said. "Today the shura met under Maulana Fazlullah and decided to hold a ceasefire for an indefinite period," Mr Khan said, referring to the council. Fazlullah's supporters had observed a temporary truce since last Tuesday when the government signed the controversial deal with pro-Taliban cleric Soofi Mohammad to enforce sharia law in Swat hoping to end a nearly two-year fight. Thousands of his militants have spent nearly two years waging a terrifying campaign to enforce sharia law, beheading opponents, bombing girls' schools, outlawing entertainment and fighting government forces. |
| Posted by:tipper |