When the authorities released Sufi Muhammad from prison, they saw a once-militant firebrand ready to talk peace and able to convince the insurgents to lay down their weapons.Their confidence appeared well-founded when he negotiated a ceasefire deal in the Swat valley, where the Taliban had fought the army to a standstill.
Today that deal lies in tatters as the Taliban and the army square off amid accusations of betrayal from both sides.
The US had criticised the Swat deal, saying it would permit the Taliban to regroup and expand their reach. The Taliban tried to do exactly that. Fighting has since resumed in Swat, home to 1.5 million people. The Red Cross has said up to half a million people may have been forced from Swat and surrounding areas by the latest fighting.
The 78-year-old Sufi Muhammad, who negotiated the truce and pledged last year to work for "peace and the restoration of the government's writ" in Swat is now encouraging Taliban defiance.
His aides insist he is committed to peace and ready for fresh talks with the government.
But US officials in Pakistan say the Swat deal shows it is the men with weapons who decide the terms. To maintain their position, men like Sufi Muhammad must find favour with them.
The deals "actually neutralised the moderates", says Samina Ahmed of the International Crisis Group. "Where are they now? They're not in Swat. They're fleeing for their lives."
Sardar Hussain Babak, the NWFP minister, called the cleric a "peaceful man". But he also said he did not think Sufi Muhammad "will convince those who have guns to lay down their guns. ...The intentions of these people are now very clear".
Sufi Muhammad got his start in politics in the 1980s with the mainstream Jamaat-e-Islami. He quit after losing a local election in Lower Dir. By the early 1990s, he had formed a group whose aim was to see Islamic law imposed in the valley.
Following the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, he led 5,000 followers across the border to battle Americans and their allies. Upon his return in 2002, he was jailed and his group banned as a terrorist outfit.
Six years later, the authorities released him hoping he would draw his old supporters away from his son-in-law who had aligned himself with the Tehreek-e-Taliban.
He did eventually broker the truce, which called for the imposition of Islamic law in Swat and surrounding areas.
In the absence of clear definitions, the Taliban began imposing their own brand of justice and driving out any officials, police or people who opposed them.
As they began moving into other Malakand districts, Sufi Muhammad supported them.