Taliban agree to 'permanent ceasefire'

Mingora: Taliban fighters and Pakistani officials have agreed to a "permanent ceasefire" in the northwestern Swat valley, a senior government official said yesterday.

Taliban commander Maulana Fazlullah, also known as Mullah Radio because he uses illegal FM radio to spread his message, was expected to announce the ceasefire later.

"They have made a commitment that they will observe a permanent ceasefire and we'll do the same," Syed Mohammad Javed, the Commissioner of Malakand, told reporters after meeting with elders in Swat.

Around 1,200 people have been killed and between 250,000 and 500,000 people have fled the valley which lies within the Malakand division of North West Frontier Province.

Western governments, and many Pakistanis, have been alarmed by the government's offer to reinstate sharia in Malakand if the Taliban agreed to peace.

They fear that a ceasefire could result in another sanctuary in Pakistan where Al Qaida and Taliban militants could move freely, and also worry that Taliban fighters elsewhere in the region will be encouraged by the government's move.

On February 15, militants called a 10-day ceasefire in the valley as a "goodwill gesture" towards the peace talks.

Javed said efforts were being made to persuade the Taliban to allow girls' schools to reopen. Militants had torched around 200 girls' schools in Swat in a campaign against female education.

The ceasefire announcement came a day after Fazlullah met his father-in-law, Maulana Sufi Mohammad, a radical cleric freed by the government to negotiate peace. The deal was agreed in principle on Monday by the government for NWFP and Sufi Mohammad, who then carried the proposals back to Fazlullah.

Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said that Fazlullah would make an announcement on the radio shortly. "I can't say what he would say but there would be good news for people of Swat," he said.

Its a shamefull act from the govenment of Pakistan that they have surrendered Swat to the terrorists Taliban. Being a Pakistani I am ashamed of my government doing such ridiculus acts encouraging talibanis to take over other areas of Pakistan like they did with Swat.
Beenish
Dubai,UAE
Posted: February 22, 2009, 15:38