Taliban call the shots in Pakistan tourist spot

Grip tightens after deal struck with government

By Sherin Zada and Chris Brummitt

Associated Press / March 7, 2009

MINGORA, Pakistan - Zeb Gul used to sell music CDs in this mountain town but was driven out of business by Taliban militants, who had struck a deal with Pakistani leaders trying to halt their march across the nation.

The government insists the Taliban won't be allowed to enforce their harsh version of Islam here, but merchants like Gul know otherwise - he has switched to selling poultry.

"The Taliban now call the shots. We cannot do anything that offends them," he said, standing outside his shop in this once popular tourist destination less than two hours' drive from the Pakistani capital.

Pakistan's leaders contend that their deal with the Taliban in this region of snowcapped mountains and fertile valleys involves implementing a mild version of Islamic law, in which girls would still be allowed to attend school, vendors like Gul could continue to sell music and movies, and there would be no public floggings or executions.

But three weeks since a cease-fire took hold, the Taliban appear to have used the pause in fighting to tighten their hold over the Swat Valley, especially in and around the main town, Mingora.

There is also skepticism that the militants - who do not have to surrender any arms under the cease-fire - will modify their hard-line interpretation of Islam, and there is concern that the region will simply become a safe haven for the Taliban.

In his tiny shop in Mingora's main bazaar, Ali Ahmed now hawks cellphones - not the Pakistani pop music, deemed sinful by the Taliban, that he used to sell.

He says only that the "situation" since the truce was reached means his music business is no longer viable.

With its lush mountain scenery and the country's only ski resort, the Swat Valley once attracted wealthy Pakistani vacationers and adventurous Westerners. It lies just east of Pakistan's tribal belt along the border with Afghanistan, where Al Qaeda and the Taliban have long held sway.

But over the past 18 months, Taliban militants have battled security forces in Swat, beheading political opponents and burning scores of girls' schools. Hundreds have been killed in the fighting, which has sent one-third of its 1.5 million people fleeing.

The prospect of ceding a further piece of the region to extremists has alarmed Washington and many Pakistanis, who note that the people of Swat rejected Islamic hard-line parties in 2008 elections, voting in the secular party that is now negotiating with the militants.

Many analysts believe the cease-fire in Swat, like a previous agreement with the militants that failed last year, will eventually collapse, leaving the Taliban in a stronger position, since they've had time to consolidate.

Despite the truce, violence has continued. The day after the cease-fire was formalized, a TV journalist from Pakistan's most popular news channel was abducted and killed in an area known to be under militant control.

The government has been talking to the Taliban through Sufi Muhammad, an aging pro-Taliban cleric who has publicly renounced violence but who leads a movement with identical political aims.

He was imprisoned for years for sending thousands of fighters to Afghanistan to fight US troops after the invasion in 2001.

Government officials have defended the negotiations with Muhammad as an attempt to isolate armed Taliban militants from nonviolent movements in the valley, even if the latter have extremist views.

"In America, they have thousands of laws they use, they have their own system," said Amir Izzat, a spokesman for Muhammad. "Here we are Muslims. We are the supporters of the Islamic system and this is our right and we will use our right to live according to the Koran and the Hadiths," he said, referring to Islam's holy texts.

Source:http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2009/03/07/taliban_call_the_shots_in_pakistan_tourist_spot/