| Submit your comments on this article |
| India-Pakistan |
| Security forces and TNSM strike 17-point accord |
| 2009-03-05 |
| The NWFP government struck a 17-point deal with the banned Tehreek Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi in the Swat valley on Wednesday. "A 17-point understanding was reached with a TNSM delegation ... music has been banned in Swat and it has been agreed to expel prostitutes and pimps from the district," the senior official told Daily Times after the meeting. The Awami National Party (ANP) and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) co-led the provincial government at the talks, while Maulana Safiullah and spokesman Amir Izzat Khan represented the TNSM -- with Malakand Commissioner Syed Muhammad Javed also in attendance. The meeting came a day after suspected Taliban killed two army troops and continued taking government officials hostage, despite having agreed to a ceasefire in the wake of the provincial government's February 16 accord on the implementation of sharia in Swat. Sharia: "Music and vulgar CDs will be banned; shops will remain closed during prayer times and the complete implementation of sharia laws in the region will come into effect from the 16th of this month," according to the key points of the understanding. "Vulgarity would be rooted out and profiteers dealt with under the law. An anti-crime campaign will be launched and Quran classes will be started for jail inmates in the region." The Malakand commissioner's office released to the media the 17-point understanding -- which does not say if the Taliban would stop abducting government officials and attacking government forces. The commissioner told the TNSM delegation that he would forward the 17 points to the chief secretary in Peshawar for the government's approval, said the officials. However, the TNSM delegates insisted that the commissioner bring into effect some of the points through his own administrative powers. Meanwhile, the army began vacating former headquarters of Swat Taliban leader Mullah Fazlullah in Imamdheri, military sources here told Daily Times on Wednesday as witnesses said the Taliban had abandoned the Qambar checkpost near Mingora on the main highway linking the district with Peshawar. |
| Posted by:Fred |