Talks suspended between govt, Taliban

Monday, 27 Apr, 2009 | 09:26 PM PST |

Talks between the Pakistan Taliban and the government over the Swat valley have been suspended until the army halts its latest operation against militants, a negotiator said on Monday. — AP/File Photo

MINGORA: The Tehrik-i-Nifaz-i-Shariat Muhammadi (TNSM) has announced suspension of talks with the NWFP government in protest against the military operation launched in Lower Dir.

TNSM spokesman Amir Izzat Khan told journalists here on Monday that negotiations would remain suspended till the operation was halted and the government contacted the TNSM leadership.

He said the government had violated the Swat agreement by sending troops to Lower Dir without taking the TNSM into confidence.

JUST THE START

Lower Dir and Swat are part of the Malakand division where Zardari sanctioned the imposition of Islamic sharia law this month after a peace deal with Sufi Mohammad aimed at ending militant violence.

Paramilitary officials said Mohammad was unable to leave his home in Lower Dir's Maidan village due to a curfew.

A spokesman for Sufi Mohammad said there would be no further dialogue with the government until it stopped its operation.

‘We are suspending talks with the government until the military operation in Dir is halted,’ said Ameer Izzat, a spokesman for Sufi Mohammad, said.

‘Our council of leaders met on Sunday night and decided to suspend peace negotiations with the government in North West Frontier Province,’ said Ameer Izzat.
‘We, however, still adhere to the February deal,’ that put three million people under sharia law, Izzat said.

Mohammad had been negotiating for a speedier implementation of sharia courts in Swat, while the government wants the Taliban to fulfil their side of the bargain by laying down arms.

A Taliban spokesman in Swat, 125 km northwest of Islamabad, breathed defiance following the operation in Dir.

‘The more they carry out operations the more we will expand across Pakistan,’ Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said.

Pakistan's allies want to see coherent, decisive action by Islamabad against militants, rather than policies of appeasement, and many Pakistanis have come round to a similar view.

‘The only option is to take action,’ said retired brigadier Mehmood Shah, a former chief of security in northwest Pakistan.

Shah expected the operation in Dir to be over soon, but saw chances for a larger offensive in Swat given the Taliban's recalcitrance.

‘If these people do not deliver on their part of the agreement... I think there is no other option with the government,’ he said.

FAMILIES FLEE

Security forces launched the offensive in Lower Dir, about 170 km northwest of the capital Islamabad, after militants attacked a convoy of paramilitary troops and 12 children were killed by a bomb hidden in a football.

Helicopter gunships and artillery targetted militant hideouts in the villages of Lal Qala and Islam Qala, and families poured out of the region, which lies to the west of Swat.

Sporadic artillery fire was heard overnight and on Monday morning and residents saw a helicopter circling the area.

‘Search and cordon operations are being carried out to capture or flush out militants,’ the military spokesman said.

Alarm bells had rung in Washington last week after Taliban fighters moved into Buner valley, south of Swat and just 100 km northwest of Islamabad.

On Friday, with expectations growing of a military operation, Taliban commander Fazlullah, ordered his men to pull back to Swat, but officials and residents said armed fighters who hailed from Buner were still present.