# Pakistan and Taliban Appear Near Deal - NY Times



## Yrys (16 Feb 2009)

Pakistan and Taliban Appear Near Deal

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Government officials and Taliban militants appeared to be near 
a deal Sunday on the violent Swat region of northern Pakistan, where the militants 
declared a unilateral 10-day cease-fire and the government indicated it was willing to 
accept the imposition of Islamic law.

Any formal truce would be a major concession by the government, which, despite a 
military operation in Swat involving 12,000 Pakistani Army troops, has been losing ground 
to a Taliban force of about 3,000 fighters. The militants have kept a stranglehold on the 
area for months, killing local police officers and officials and punishing residents who do 
not adhere to strict Islamic tenets.

High-level talks on Taliban demands for Shariah law in Swat and the surrounding region 
were to continue on Monday in Islamabad, Pakistan, involving President Asif Ali Zardari; 
the army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani; and senior local officials. But on Sunday, a 
prominent regional official, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, said that there was already an 
agreement in principle.

The Taliban made several gestures on Sunday that appeared to be aimed at moving the 
deal along, including declaring a 10-day cease-fire with government troops in Swat. A 
militant spokesman there, Muslim Khan, said the move was made out of good will and 
told reporters that “our fighters will neither target security forces nor government installations.” 
But he insisted that the militants would fight back if attacked. Earlier, Mr. Khan said that the 
Taliban had released a Chinese engineer, Long Xiaowei, who had been held hostage since 
August, The Associated Press reported.

Previous attempts at truces in the region have fallen apart, most notably last May. And the 
United States has strongly opposed making political concessions to the Taliban, urging 
Mr. Zardari’s government to fight more vigorously. That appeared to happen last summer, 
when the army began an offensive in Swat. But the move quickly stalled, with troops reduced 
mostly to remotely shelling suspected Taliban sites and the militants effectively imposing their 
authority throughout the region.

Since then, Taliban leaders have proscribed what they call un-Islamic activities by residents, 
including watching television, dancing and shaving beards, and they have sometimes beheaded 
offenders. The penalties are regularly, and terrifyingly, announced over radio stations under the 
militants’ control. Tens of thousands of residents of the area, which was once a popular tourist 
spot and considered a mainstream part of the country, have fled the intimidation and violence.
It was unclear what any formal truce would include, and the government had recently said that 
it was not planning to withdraw troops from Swat.

Mr. Hussain played down the significance of a formal acceptance of Shariah law in the area, 
saying that it would be mostly a technical agreement. “We are not enacting any new law,” he said. 
“The regulation already exists and is enforced in Swat, but the mechanism to enforce it is missing. 
We are only providing for an increase in the number of judges and setting a time frame for the 
disposal of cases.”


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## Yrys (16 Feb 2009)

Taleban announces Swat ceasefire







Taleban fighters in north-west Pakistan's restive Swat valley have announced a 10-day ceasefire.

The move came after local officials signed a deal with a militant leader to enforce Islamic law in 
the district. The ceasefire halts fighting between Pakistani security forces and Taleban militants 
in Swat that has raged since November 2007. Once one of Pakistan's most popular holiday 
destinations, the Swat valley is now mostly under Taleban control.

Hundreds of civilians have died in an increasingly bloody insurgency there, while thousands of 
others have been forced to migrate. The Taleban have set up their own system of Islamic justice, 
as they understand it, and have closed down schools, denying education to tens of thousands of 
children, says the BBC's M Ilyas Khan, who was recently in Swat.

Pakistani President Asif Zardari has warned that the entire country is fighting for its survival against 
the Taleban, whose influence he said has spread deep into the country. In an interview with US TV 
network CBS, President Asif Zardari said the Taleban had established a presence across "huge parts" 
of Pakistan.

*'Goodwill gesture'*

The agreement was signed by Taleban cleric Sufi Mohammad after talks with the North West Frontier 
Province's government. The agreement binds the provincial government to implement Sharia law in the 
Malakand division, which comprises Swat and its adjoining areas. A militant spokesman, Muslim Khan, 
said the ceasefire was a "goodwill gesture to the ongoing talks between Sufi Mohammad and the 
government".

Talks on how Sharia law will be implemented are to continue on Monday between Taleban representatives 
and officials of the provincial government in the capial of North West Frontier Province, Peshawar, said 
Reuters news agency. Details are to be formally announced at that time.

There has no reaction so far from the Pakistani central government. The Taleban say they will examine 
the document thoroughly before announcing a permanent end to hostilities.

*Army exit urged*

A Chinese engineer held hostage for five months had also been released as a sign of good faith, 
the militants said. Long Xiaowei, who was captured last August in the Dir region with a Chinese 
colleague, arrived at China's embassy in Islamabad earlier on Sunday and was in good health, 
a Chinese official said. The colleague escaped in October, the Taleban said at the time.

The people of Swat have been caught between the army and the Taleban, says our correspondent.
More than 1,000 civilians have died in shelling by the army or from beheadings sanctioned by the 
Taleban. Thousands more have been displaced.

The Taleban now control the entire countryside of Swat, limiting army control to parts of the valley's 
capital, Mingora. Many people in Swat now would favour an early exit by the army as the they have 
failed to roll back the Taleban or protect the Taleban's opponents, says our correspondent.


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## Teeps74 (16 Feb 2009)

This is far from good news. Not for Pakistan, not for us in Afghanistan. Pakistan has already bowed down once, and caved to taliban terrorist demands, and the result was more violence. What makes anyone beleive that things will be different now?


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## Yrys (16 Feb 2009)

[url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7891410.stm]Taleban announces Swat ceasefire[/url], NY Times

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Pakistan government officials said they struck a deal on Monday to accept
a legal system compatible with Shariah law in the violent Swat region in return for peace.

The agreement contradicted American demands for the Pakistan authorities to fight harder against 
militants, and seemed certain to raise fears in Washington that a perilous precedent had been set 
across a volatile region where U.S. forces are fighting Taliban militants operating in Afghanistan 
and Pakistan.

The latest sign of the battle came early on Monday when a suspected United States drone fired 
four missiles into another area of northwestern Pakistan, close to the Afghan border, killing 31 
people, according to a government official and a resident.

The deal on the Swat region was conditional on both sides fulfilling their side of the bargain, 
government officials said. They said the authorities agreed to a legal system rejecting any law 
that did not comply with the teachings of the Koran and the sayings and teachings of the prophet 
Muhammad, known as the Sunnah.

“After successful negotiations, all un-Islamic laws related to the judicial system, those against 
the Koran and the Sunnah, would be subject to cancellation and considered null and void,” said 
Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the information minister of the North West Frontier Province, according 
to Reuters.

The region’s Swat Valley was once one of Pakistan’s Alpine tourism resorts but the flow of 
visitors dried up and thousands of people fled their homes after militants launched an uprising 
in 2007. Since last summer, some 12,000 government troops have been fighting a military 
operation in Swat against a Taliban force of about 3,000 fighters. The militants have kept a 
stranglehold on the area for months, killing local police officers and officials, and punishing 
residents who do not adhere to strict Islamic tenets.

Government officials said on Monday that the agreement was struck with Maulan Sufi Mohammad, 
who has long pressed for Shariah law to be restored in Swat and who had pledged to persuade 
Taliban fighters in Swat to lay down their arms. The authorities, for their part, promised to 
introduce the new legal system once peace had been restored, government officials said.

The Taliban made several gestures on Sunday that appeared to be aimed at moving the deal 
along, including declaring a 10-day cease-fire with government troops in Swat. A militant 
spokesman there, Muslim Khan, said the move was made out of good will and told reporters 
that “our fighters will neither target security forces nor government installations.” But he 
insisted that the militants would fight back if attacked. Earlier, Mr. Khan said that the Taliban 
had released a Chinese engineer, Long Xiaowei, who had been held hostage since August, 
The Associated Press reported.

Previous attempts at truces in the region have collapsed, most notably last May. That appeared 
to happen last summer, when the army began an offensive in Swat. But the move quickly stalled, 
with troops reduced mostly to shelling suspected Taliban sites and the militants effectively 
imposing their authority throughout the region.

Since then, Taliban leaders have proscribed what they call un-Islamic activities by residents, 
including watching television, dancing and shaving beards, and they have sometimes beheaded 
offenders. The penalties are regularly, and terrifyingly, announced over radio stations under the 
militants’ control. Tens of thousands of residents of the area, which was once a popular tourist 
spot and considered a mainstream part of the country, have fled the intimidation and violence.

On Sunday, Mr. Hussain, the information minister, played down the significance of a formal 
acceptance of Shariah law in the area, saying that it would be mostly a technical agreement.
“We are not enacting any new law,” he said. “The regulation already exists and is enforced 
in Swat, but the mechanism to enforce it is missing. We are only providing for an increase in 
the number of judges and setting a time frame for the disposal of cases.”

_Pir Zubair Shah contributed reporting from Islamabad and Alan Cowell from Paris._


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## tomahawk6 (18 Feb 2009)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/4681480/US-privately-backs-Pakistans-Sharia-law-for-peace-deal-with-Taliban.html

The deal, under which Sharia law will be introduced in the Malakhand and Kohistan districts of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province if Taliban militants end their armed campaign in the Swat Valley, has been met with alarm by Nato chiefs and British and American officials. 

Nato fears the deal would create a new "safe haven" for extremists, said a spokesman on Tuesday night, while a statement from Britain's High Commission in Islamabad said: "Previous peace deals have not provided a comprehensive and long-term solution to Swat's problems. We need to be confident that they will end violence, not create space for further violence." 

President Barack Obama's special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan voiced the greatest concern about the strength of Taliban militants in Swat as he ended his first visit to the region since taking up his post. 

"I talked to people from Swat and they were, frankly, quite terrified. Swat has really deeply affected the people of Pakistan, not just in Peshawar but in Lahore and Islamabad," he said, while a Defence Department official described the deal as a "negative development". 

On Tuesday night however, US officials in Islamabad privately backed the deal as an attempt to drive a wedge between Swat's Taliban, which is focused on its demand for Sharia law, and the al-Qaeda-linked Taliban led by Baitullah Mehsud, the notorious commander who controls much of North and South Waziristan and other tribal areas along the Afghan border. 

While they expressed fears that the deal might yet be sabotaged by some Swat Taliban militants who support al-Qaeda, they said that if successful, the deal would break up the alliance between the two groups, which has caused alarm throughout Pakistan and in Washington. 

Of the two Taliban groups, Mehsud's is the most feared – he has been accused of masterminding the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and trained Osama bin Laden's son as one of his commanders – but it is the alliance with Swat Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah which alarmed Pakistanis in the country's main metropolitan centres. 

Swat is less than 100 miles from Islamabad, just a few hours from where Fazlullah's men have bombed girls' schools and murdered opponents and those who have defied its fatwas against "immoral behaviour". They included a popular dancing girl whose body was dumped in the main square of the valley's largest city, Mingora, last month. 

Fazlullah, who is known as "Maulana Radio" for the illegal FM stations he uses to broadcast his latest fatwas and justify recent Taliban murders, is the son-in-law of Maulana Sufi Muhammad, the leader of Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM), who once led thousands of militants to fight US forces in Afghanistan. Mr Muhammad has negotiated the Sharia law deal with local government officials and was on Tuesday night meeting Maulana Fazlullah to finalise their ceasefire. 

Some senior Pakistan People's Party leaders have privately condemned the deal as "surrender", but government sources last night said it needed to bring peace to the valley, so that girls could return to school and business return to normal. 

The valley had a long history of Sharia law, and its introduction was a popular measure among Swat's long-suffering people, they said. 

American officials in Islamabad said they hoped it would divide Fazlullah's Swat Taliban and his father-in-law's TNSM from Baitullah Mehsud's Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). 

"The strategy has to be to divide the two groups. The TNSM and Baitullah's TTP found some common cause briefly, but a peace deal will separate them," said one US official, who explained that while Mehsud's TTP is part of the global jihad, Maulana Radio is regarded as more focused on local issues and the campaign for Sharia law. 

One source suggested it reflected the "smart power" thinking outlined by Hillary Clinton in her Senate confirmation hearing as secretary of state. 

Mehsud's Taliban on Tuesday night appeared unruffled by the prospect of a peace deal in Swat. 

"If a true Sharia was enforced, we shall fully support it," said Maulvi Omar, a spokesman, adding that the group backed the involvement of TNSM chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad in any deal.


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## Yrys (21 Feb 2009)

Taleban consider Swat ceasefire, BBC News, Sunday, 22 February 2009

Taleban insurgents in the north-western Swat valley of Pakistan say they will announce whether 
a temporary ceasefire is to be made permanent within days.

The rebels told the BBC they would first review government progress on implementing Sharia 
law in the district - a key Taleban demand. The government had earlier announced a 
"permanent ceasefire" with the rebels. Swat, once one of Pakistan's most popular holiday 
destinations, has long been blighted by militant violence.

Taleban spokesman Muslim Khan told the BBC the rebels were reviewing government progress 
on the implementation of Sharia law.






"Six of the 10 days of this announcement still remains, when the sixth day comes to an end 
we will see what will be done by the government of launching Sharia law, then we will decide," 
he said.

Pakistan has denied giving in to the Taleban, saying it was a local solution to a local problem. 


*'Capitulation'*

Last week a deal was struck which arranged a 10-day ceasefire and saw an agreement by 
the Pakistani government for Sharia law to be implemented in the Swat area. Reports said 
the prospective deal was arranged when local Taleban met Sufi Mohammad - a senior elder 
appointed by the government to negotiate - to discuss ceasefire terms.

Sufi Mohammad, a pro-Taleban cleric, is the father-in-law of Maulana Fazlullah, who has 
been waging a violent campaign to impose Sharia in the region.

Following the deal struck last Sunday to introduce Sharia law, the government's announcement 
suggests negotiations between Maulana Fazlullah and Sufi Mohammad could now be leading 
to a more permanent deal.

"They [the Taleban] have made commitment that they will observe a permanent ceasefire and 
we'll do the same," said Syed Mohammad Javed, commissioner of Malakand, which includes 
Swat, on Saturday.

"We announced a ceasefire and we will take more steps after this. Soon you will hear more good 
news." He said the army would scale back its operations in the valley and asked residents who 
had left Swat because of the fighting to return home.

Schools for boys would re-open, although school for girls would remain closed, Mr Javed added.

The BBC's Pakistan analyst Owen Bennett-Jones says the schools announcement, and the decision 
to pull government troops out of Swat, amount to a capitulation by the Pakistani state. The territory, 
a former princely state only absorbed into Pakistan in 1969, is effectively being given up to militant 
control, our correspondent adds.

Thousands of people have fled and hundreds of schools have been destroyed in Swat since a Taleban 
insurgency began in 2007. The people of Swat have long been caught in the crossfire between the 
army and the Taleban. More than 1,000 civilians have died in shelling by the army or from 
beheadings sanctioned by the Taleban. Thousands more have been displaced.

The Taleban now control the entire countryside of Swat, limiting army control to parts of the valley's 
capital, Mingora.





Taleban supporters are in plain sight in 
Mingora, in the Swat valley


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## Yrys (21 Feb 2009)

Taliban Truce Seems in Flux in Pakistan, NY Times, February 21, 2009

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A provincial government official in the disputed area of Swat announced details 
of what he called a “permanent cease-fire” with the Taliban on Saturday.

But hours later, the most powerful Taliban leader in Swat, Maulana Fazlullah, said over his FM radio station
that he had only agreed to a 10-day truce and would consider an extension at the end of that period.

The different positions suggested that the truce agreed to five days ago by the national government, under 
which the army would stop hostilities in exchange for being allowed to put in place a system of Islamic law, 
remained in flux.

That deal was widely criticized by Western governments and moderate Pakistanis who described it as a 
government surrender to ruthless militants. Now it appears that Mr. Fazlullah, whose forces have swept 
through the territory in the past six months, has not signed on to it.

The national government said Monday that it had agreed to a deal with another Taliban leader, Maulana Sufi 
Muhammad, who lacks the powerful forces of Mr. Fazlullah, his son-in-law. Mr. Fazlullah has the backing 
of the umbrella group of Pakistani Taliban, Tehrik-e-Taliban. Mr. Muhammad has been holding talks with 
Mr. Fazlullah in the last two days, apparently an effort to persuade him to go along with the government deal.

At a news conference on Saturday, Syed Muhammad Javed, a newly appointed commissioner for Malakand, 
the region that includes the Swat Valley, said: “Today, we are announcing a permanent cease-fire. The Taliban 
have also endorsed the cease-fire.”

But Muslim Khan, a spokesman for the Swat Taliban, told The Associated Press that the group was not ready 
to announce an agreement. “We do welcome the government’s announcement of the permanent cease-fire, but 
as far as the cease-fire from our side, we can announce it on our own, and we will do that ourselves,” he said.


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## Yrys (2 Mar 2009)

Leader begins key visit to Swat, Monday, 2 March 2009






The chief minister of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province has made his first visit 
to Swat since a key peace deal was agreed to end militancy there. Ameer Haider Hoti 
is handing over compensation money to those affected by the conflict. The scenic valley 
has long been blighted by militant violence.

But the authorities and a key radical cleric recently agreed a deal that would bring 
Sharia law to the region in return for an end to Taleban militancy.

Separately on Monday at least four people were killed and five injured when a suicide 
bomber detonated explosives as certificates were handed out at a women's seminary 
in Karbala in Balochistan province.

*Judges*

This is Mr Hoti's first visit since the deal and indeed his first since taking over as chief 
minister a year ago. He was initially scheduled to visit later this month.

But, officials say, the visit was brought forward after the radical cleric, Sufi Mohammad, 
said on Sunday that he was dissatisfied by the delay in appointments to the the Islamic 
courts that would administer the Sharia law.

Sufi Mohammad, the chief of TNSM (Tanzim-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat Mohammadi) who is 
mediating talks between the government and militants, also complained that both sides 
were delaying releasing prisoners there were holding. Addressing a press conference on 
Sunday, Sufi Mohammad warned that the TNSM would start setting up protest camps if 
the Islamic courts were not set up and prisoners not swapped by 15 March.

The top district administrators of Swat met Sufi Mohammad and assured him that the 
judges would be appointed before then. A senior official in the region told reporters after 
the meeting that Sufi Mohammad himself would interview the judges. He also said that the 
cleric had given him a list of militant prisoners being held by the government.

The situation in Swat remains tense and the militants are yet to disarm or end their hold 
over areas they control. Swat has been the scene of bloody clashes between militants and 
government forces since November 2007. More than 1,000 civilians have died in shelling 
by the army or from beheadings sanctioned by the Taleban. Thousands more have been 
displaced.

The Taleban have also destroyed nearly 200 schools, most of them for girls, during a 
sustained campaign against secular education in Swat. In the Balochistan attack, witnesses 
told the BBC Urdu service's Azizullah Khan that two teachers at the seminary were among 
the dead. The attack occurred after a speech by Maulana Shirani, the chief of the 
Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) party who is known to oppose Taleban militants. The attacker 
blew himself up after he was stopped trying to reach Maulana Shirani, police said. He was unhurt. 


Minister promises girls' education in Pakistan's Swat Valley, CBC


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## Yrys (13 Mar 2009)

Will Sharia law bring order to Swat?, Monday, 16 February 2009

 Sharia law begins in Swat valley, Thursday, 12 March 2009

Sharia courts have re-opened in four administrative areas of the troubled Swat valley in 
north-western Pakistan, officials in the area say. All the four areas are Taleban strongholds, 
they say.

The judges of the courts were formally inaugurated on Thursday by cleric Sufi Mohammad 
in front of a large gathering of spectators from all over Swat. The cleric signed the Sharia 
deal with the government last month and is now mediating between it and the Taleban.

*'Capitulation'*

The agreement paved the way for the imposition of Sharia law in the region in return for 
an end to the Taleban insurgency. It has been strongly criticised by the US, which argues 
that it is a capitulation to the Taleban. The four courts which re-opened on Thursday are 
in the Khwazakhel, Kabal, Varikot and Matta areas.

The BBC's Abdul Hai Kakar in Peshawar says that Sharia courts used to operate in the 
region throughout the 1990s, but towards the end of that decade they functioned more and 
more rarely. Our correspondent says that the courts have the power to impose strict 
sentences in accordance with Islamic Sharia law.

The opening ceremony was presided over by Sufi Mohammad, whose son-in-law Maulana 
Fazlullah is the Taleban leader in Swat. Sufi Mohammed was instrumental in the campaign 
for Sharia law to be imposed in parts of Swat in 1994.

Correspondents say that Sharia has been the central plank of the Taleban's war ideology in 
Swat - unlike in the more egalitarian tribal regions called the Federally Administered Tribal 
Areas (Fata), where disputes over Sharia have not been central to the military-militant 
conflict.

Last month the North West Frontier Province government signed an agreement with Sufi 
Mohammad's proscribed Tanzim-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat Mohammadi (TNSM) for the implementation 
of the Sharia justice system in Swat. Sufi Mohammad, who opposes militancy, led thousands 
of TNSM workers into Swat to set up a peace camp there and to start talks with Maulana 
Fazlullah.

More than 1,000 civilians have died in shelling by the army or from beheadings sanctioned by 
the Taleban in Swat and thousands of people have fled the former tourist haven. The Taleban 
have also destroyed hundreds of schools in their campaign against female education.


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## Greymatters (13 Mar 2009)

Once they have firmly established control of the local population and infrastructure, it becomes and excellent springboard into the next province...


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## Yrys (14 Apr 2009)

Swat Taleban find Sharia a challenge, 24 March 2009






"I am not going to change the decision as it is valid according to Sharia," says Maulana 
Ehsan-ur-Rahman softly but adamantly.

Maulana Rahman is a qazi, or judge, in one of the newly appointed Islamic Sharia courts 
in Pakistan's troubled district of Swat. He is addressing about a dozen people standing in 
front of the bench in the circuit courthouse of Mingora, Swat's main town.

They are led by a tall, fierce-looking man who adamantly demands an explanation for the 
court's decision. He is a commander in the Swat Taleban who fought Pakistan's army to a 
recent standstill.

The Taleban had demanded the implementation of Islamic Sharia law here. The 
government acceded and these courts are the first step in that direction. The move 
led to an outcry across Pakistan and in the international community.

Human rights activists are horrified at the possibility of punishments such as the 
amputation of limbs, whipping and stoning to death being implemented. Moreover, 
legal experts are worried over the challenges posed by setting up a parallel legal 
system.

But the common people in Swat have welcomed the establishment of the courts and 
have thronged to them. "We believe we will get quick and impartial justice from the 
Sharia courts," says Umar Hayat, a local man waiting to file his petition. "In the past, 
cases used to drag on for years, but now they are settled in days. More importantly, 
everybody is equal in front of the law."

*Farmer's win*

The "Taleban case" before the court vividly illustrates this. It pertains to the creation 
of a dirt track through the fields of a local farmer at the behest of the Taleban. The 
farmer filed a case in the Sharia courts and the matter was adjudicated by Maulana 
Rahman.

The ruling was in the farmer's favour.

"But the members of the Taleban present refused to accept the verdict and said they would 
take up the matter with senior Taleban commanders," an eyewitness says. "They also twisted 
the judge's words and brought in the commander after telling him that Maulana Rahman had 
said that he did not care if Maulana Fazlullah himself had demanded a repeal."

Maulana Fazlullah is head of the Taleban in the Swat region. His power is said to be absolute.
The clearly incensed Taleban commander demanded an explanation from Maulana Rahman.
The qazi made it clear he had not made any such comments. But he also reiterated the fact 
that the ruling was final. For several minutes, the Taleban commander and his henchmen 
continued to argue. But Maulana Rahman refused to budge, and fellow qazis waded into the 
argument in his support.

Finally, they managed to convince the Taleban after quoting examples supporting the decision 
from the Koran. They also said they would personally come and investigate the matter if the 
ruling was not followed. At this, the Taleban agreed to the decision and beat a hasty retreat.

"This a system that works for us," says Qari Fazal Maula, a petitioner at the court. He had 
just received a ruling in his favour over a dispute involving the ownership of his rickshaw taxi. 
"I couldn't get a decision despite having filed two years ago in a local court," he says. "It was 
a waste of money with all the lawyers' fees and other costs. Here I had to spend 20 rupees 
(25 US cents) on a piece of official stamp paper." Most of the other petitioners at the crowded 
court voiced similar sentiments.

But there are dissenting voices. "The courts are not admitting our cases," says Farooq Ahmed.
He is waiting to file a petition regarding a property dispute dating back 40 years. "Cases that 
were filed before the implementation of the original Sharia draft in 1999 will not be accepted," 
a judge explains. "This had to be done otherwise there would be a huge backlog of cases and 
this would again start the delay in justice."

According to Maulana Rahman, he has so far heard 100 cases since the courts were started on 
18 February. "I have given a decision in 20 of the cases," he says. "The decisions are on the 
basis of Sharia and consensus." There is already a minor backlog because of the available 
number of judges - just seven for the entire district.

*Ordinance*

The newly implemented Sharia system for the Malakand division is three-tiered.

There is the Ilaqa (local area) court, which comes under the zila (district) court, 
all of which are presided over by the Darul Darul qaza court for the entire division. 
This acts as the supreme court.

The region needs at least 20 judges to make the system workable and efficient. But 
that is just a problem of resources which can be addressed quite quickly if need be.

The real issue remains the validity of the implementation of Sharia law itself. A 
declaration was made for it to take effect from 15 March but the actual ordinance 
has still to be signed.

"When the ordinance is signed by the president, the relevant code will have retrospective 
effect," insists a local TNSM leader. The TNSM organisation, led by former militant leader 
Sufi Mohammad, brokered the peace agreement between the Taleban and the government. 
But that peace may not hold.

Under previous Sharia regulations, courts came to their decisions by taking both the law 
and consensus into account. Most analysts believe this is unlikely to change and that it 
may lead to trouble from the Taleban. "The Taleban have always said they want the 
implementation of their version of Sharia law here," explains a local legal expert.

But the Nizam-e-Adl, or Order of Justice, for Swat talks of interpreting Sharia according 
to the demands of the relevant sects involved. "This is a sure recipe for disaster," the 
legal expert says.


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## Yrys (14 Apr 2009)

Pakistan passes Swat Sharia deal, 13 April 2009

Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari has signed a controversial bill introducing Islamic Sharia law 
to the Swat region, say reports.

The move comes after parliament passed a resolution urging Mr Zardari to honour a promise made 
to the Taleban. The implementation of Islamic justice was agreed in February in return for an end 
to the Taleban insurgency. Mr Zardari had previously resisted signing the deal, which has been 
criticised by his Western allies.

There are concerns it could lead to human rights abuses and provide help to militants in the region.
But Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said parliament had committed itself to implementing the 
Sharia system.

*Unhappy*

The bill introducing Sharia courts in the troubled Malakand division, comprising six north-western 
districts including Swat, was sent to parliament for consideration on Monday.

Sharia court have already begun operating in the region, after reopening last week. Mr Gilani told 
lawmakers that they had "committed to implement the system and the whole nation should support 
it". "We want consensus of the whole nation. We want to take the house into confidence. We don't 
want to bypass the parliament," AFP news agency quoted him as saying.

The parliament then unanimously passed a resolution urging Mr Zardari to sign the deal. One party, 
the Karachi-based Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), abstained from the vote, with members 
saying they had "apprehensions" about the agreement. "We can't accept Islamic law at gunpoint," 
the Associated Press quoted Farooq Sattar, an MQM party leader, as saying.

*Schools destroyed*

Mr Zardari had been expected to sign the bill directly into law. The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad 
says putting it before parliament was apparently meant to develop national consensus on an issue 
which is highly controversial and over which many within the country and abroad have expressed 
reservations.

The secular ANP party, which governs North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and which negotiated 
the bill with a cleric, Sufi Mohammad, was unhappy with Mr Zardari's decision to send the bill to 
parliament. NWFP information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain told the media the president had not 
discussed the change of tactics with the ANP.

A spokesman for the Taleban, Muslim Khan, told the Associated Press news agency that MPs who 
opposed the deal in parliament would be considered apostates. Apostasy, or abandoning Islam, 
can in some areas mean the death penalty.

On Friday Sufi Mohammad said he was leaving the region in protest at the failure to finalise the 
agreement. He had set up a peace camp in the main town of Mingora but on Friday said he was 
returning to his village in protest at the turn of events.

Swat is mostly under Taleban control. Thousands of people have fled and hundreds of schools 
have been destroyed since they began their insurgency there in 2007. Sharia courts began 
operating last month and have been welcomed by many in the region as a quick and efficient 
means of justice.

However, there have also been reports of controversial punishments. From the outset of the 
deal, the US feared it might "become a surrender" to militants.


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