Fazlullah vows to lay down arms if Shariah regulation signed

Sunday, April 12, 2009

By our correspondent

MINGORA: Swat Taliban chief Maulana Fazlullah on Saturday vowed to stick to the peace agreement despite winding up of peace camp by Tanzim Nifaz Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad and to lay down arms if the president signed the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation.
In a meeting with a 20-member Kanju Amn Jirga, headed by Inamur Rahman, Fazlullah urged President Asif Ali Zardari to sign the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation immediately and authorise Qazis to pave the way for durable peace.
His demand came on the day his fighters lashed two alleged drug addicts, Umar Wahid and Karam, five times each in Kota Aboha area of the valley.
The militant cleric said they would honour the peace deal and would not let the situation worsen further. “If Zardari is sincere in implementation of the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation, he should sign it at the earliest,” Fazlullah told the Jirga.
He also warned the government of dire consequences if the draft law was not enforced in Malakand. “Pakistan is our country and I consider it my obligation to defend it, but the government will be responsible for worst case scenario if the president did not sign the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation,” he warned.
Talking to reporters, Inamur Rahman said Fazlullah was determined to protect the country till the last drop of his blood. He also claimed that the Taliban would lay down arms after the approval of the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation by the president. “There will be 100 per cent peace after the enforcement of the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation,” he claimed.
Spokesman for the TNSM Amir Izzat Khan said security situation in Swat Valley was “better than the rest of the country”.
Talking to newsmen at Amandara Markaz in Batkhela, the headquarters of Malakand Agency, he said the TNSM guaranteed peace in presence of the Taliban at a critical time and succeeded in bringing peace by establishing a camp in Mingora.
“What kind of peace Asif Zardari and Rehman Malik want?” he asked, and said a host of country’s intelligence agencies failed to maintain peace in the country but the TNSM did it single-handedly in Swat.
In a meeting with tribesmen from Sultankhel and Paindakhel tribes of Upper Dir, TNSM chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad asked the people of the Malakand division to support him in his struggle for Shariah and peace. Led by Malik Jehanzeb, the delegation demanded of the president to sign the draft law to restore peace in the area.
Meanwhile, at a press conference in Mingora, the PPP-S NWFP Deputy Secretary General Fazl Rahman threatened to begin a long march to Peshawar and Islamabad if the signing of the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation was delayed further.
A clash between the militants and security forces took place in Fatehpur area of Khwazakhela when a convoy of the forces was heading towards Madyan. The clash resulted in injuries to three security forcesí personnel.

source