Sufi Muhammad

MINGORA, Pakistan - A hard-line cleric sought yesterday to persuade the Taliban to disarm under a pact with Pakistan's government aimed at restoring peace after an 18-month campaign of terrorism and battles with the army. The negotiations are a test of an agreement that has been much criticized as giving in to the demands of militants seeking to establish hard-line Islamic law and providing them a safe haven. Islamic cleric Sufi Muhammad promised to use his influence to push the Taliban in the former mountain resort region of Swat to stop fighting in exchange for a public vow by...

ISLAMABAD - Pakistani authorities lodged a criminal case yesterday against a cleric who helped negotiate a failed peace deal with the Swat Valley Taliban, suggesting the government is determined not to negotiate again with the militants. Sufi Muhammad, father-in-law of Swat’s notorious Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah, is accused of aiding terrorism, sedition, and conspiring against the government, Swat police Chief Sajid Mohmand said. The charges carry a minimum penalty of life imprisonment and a maximum of death.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A recent surge in suicide attacks in Pakistan reached the capital yesterday when a man wearing an explosive-laden jacket attacked a police compound but was shot down before he could enter the main building. Two officers died and six other were wounded, police said. The assault fit with a Taliban threat made 10 days earlier that militants would launch strikes in major cities across Pakistan in retaliation for the military's month-old offensive to oust the Taliban from the Swat Valley in the country's northwest.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A recent surge in suicide attacks in Pakistan reached the capital yesterday when a man wearing an explosive-laden jacket attacked a police compound but was shot down before he could enter the main building. Two officers died and six other were wounded, police said. The assault fit with a Taliban threat made 10 days earlier that militants would launch strikes in major cities across Pakistan in retaliation for the military's month-old offensive to oust the Taliban from the Swat Valley in the country's northwest.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistani authorities lodged a criminal case yesterday against a cleric who helped negotiate a failed peace deal with the Swat Valley Taliban, suggesting the government is determined not to negotiate again with the militants. Sufi Muhammad, father-in-law of Swat’s notorious Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah, is accused of aiding terrorism, sedition, and conspiring against the government, Swat police Chief Sajid Mohmand said. The charges carry a minimum penalty of life imprisonment and a maximum of death.

MINGORA, Pakistan - NATO led a growing chorus of international concern yesterday by warning that a truce between the government of Pakistan and Taliban militants in a restive region near the Afghan border risks giving the extremists a safe haven. A hard-line cleric sent to the battle-scarred Swat Valley to negotiate with the Taliban received a hero's welcome there by crowds shouting "Long live Islam! Long live peace!" The cleric, Sufi Muhammad, expressed hope the militants would give up their arms to honor the pact, which imposes Islamic law and suspends a military offensive in the...

ISLAMABAD - The hard-line Muslim cleric who has mediated peace talks between Pakistan and the Taliban in the Swat Valley packed up and left the northwestern district yesterday, angrily denouncing the president for failing to sign off on imposing Islamic law in the area. Sufi Muhammad's departure imperils a fragile cease-fire between militants and security forces that brought a tense calm to the valley after months of bloodletting but also alarmed Western leaders who want Pakistan to eradicate Al Qaeda and Taliban havens.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistani officials reached a peace deal with a Taliban-linked group yesterday that could lead to the enforcement of Islamic law in a part of the country that is supposed to be fully under government control. Militants in the Swat Valley responded by declaring a 10-day cease-fire as a good-will gesture. The agreement is expected to be formally announced today. Several past deals with militants have failed, but Pakistan says force alone cannot defeat Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters wreaking havoc in its northwest and attacking US...

MINGORA, Pakistan - Pakistan has agreed to an open-ended cease-fire with Taliban militants in the Swat Valley, government officials said yesterday, extending a truce as the country pursues broader, much-criticized talks aimed at calming a large swath of its northwestern region bordering Afghanistan. The Taliban leader in Swat, however, said the militants would decide on whether to halt fighting for good only after a 10-day cease-fire announced last Sunday expires - and that decision hinged on the government taking unspecified "practical steps.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - An offensive by the Pakistani military against insurgent hideouts prompted suspension of controversial peace talks with the Taliban yesterday, and the country's president sought additional foreign aid to assure its nuclear arms remain in "safe hands. " The developments came as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited Afghanistan and Pakistan, calling their shared border region a "crucible of terrorism. " Following the military push into Dir, a district on the Afghanistan border, militants described their peace pact with...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - An offensive by the Pakistani military against insurgent hideouts prompted suspension of controversial peace talks with the Taliban yesterday, and the country's president sought additional foreign aid to assure its nuclear arms remain in "safe hands. " The developments came as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited Afghanistan and Pakistan, calling their shared border region a "crucible of terrorism. " Following the military push into Dir, a district on the Afghanistan border, militants described their peace pact with the government as "worthless,"...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - The country's imposition of Islamic law in a cease-fire deal to blunt a gathering Taliban rebellion will protect militants accused of brutal killings from prosecution, a hard-line cleric who mediated the deal said yesterday. The assertion highlights the dilemma facing Pakistan's beleaguered government as it seeks to halt 18 months of bloodletting in the Swat Valley while convincing the US and other foreign sponsors that it is not capitulating to allies of Al Qaeda.

ISLAMABAD - The hard-line Muslim cleric who has mediated peace talks between Pakistan and the Taliban in the Swat Valley packed up and left the northwestern district yesterday, angrily denouncing the president for failing to sign off on imposing Islamic law in the area. Sufi Muhammad's departure imperils a fragile cease-fire between militants and security forces that brought a tense calm to the valley after months of bloodletting but also alarmed Western leaders who want Pakistan to eradicate Al Qaeda and Taliban havens.

MINGORA, Pakistan - Pakistan has agreed to an open-ended cease-fire with Taliban militants in the Swat Valley, government officials said yesterday, extending a truce as the country pursues broader, much-criticized talks aimed at calming a large swath of its northwestern region bordering Afghanistan. The Taliban leader in Swat, however, said the militants would decide on whether to halt fighting for good only after a 10-day cease-fire announced last Sunday expires - and that decision hinged on the government taking unspecified "practical steps.

MINGORA, Pakistan - A hard-line cleric sought yesterday to persuade the Taliban to disarm under a pact with Pakistan's government aimed at restoring peace after an 18-month campaign of terrorism and battles with the army. The negotiations are a test of an agreement that has been much criticized as giving in to the demands of militants seeking to establish hard-line Islamic law and providing them a safe haven. Islamic cleric Sufi Muhammad promised to use his influence to push the Taliban in the former mountain resort region of Swat to stop fighting in...

MINGORA, Pakistan - NATO led a growing chorus of international concern yesterday by warning that a truce between the government of Pakistan and Taliban militants in a restive region near the Afghan border risks giving the extremists a safe haven. A hard-line cleric sent to the battle-scarred Swat Valley to negotiate with the Taliban received a hero's welcome there by crowds shouting "Long live Islam! Long live peace!" The cleric, Sufi Muhammad, expressed hope the militants would give up their arms to honor the pact, which imposes Islamic law and suspends a military offensive in the...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - The country's imposition of Islamic law in a cease-fire deal to blunt a gathering Taliban rebellion will protect militants accused of brutal killings from prosecution, a hard-line cleric who mediated the deal said yesterday. The assertion highlights the dilemma facing Pakistan's beleaguered government as it seeks to halt 18 months of bloodletting in the Swat Valley while convincing the US and other foreign sponsors that it is not capitulating to allies of Al Qaeda.

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...

ISLAMABAD - Pakistani officials reached a peace deal with a Taliban-linked group yesterday that could lead to the enforcement of Islamic law in a part of the country that is supposed to be fully under government control. Militants in the Swat Valley responded by declaring a 10-day cease-fire as a good-will gesture. The agreement is expected to be formally announced today. Several past deals with militants have failed, but Pakistan says force alone cannot defeat Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters wreaking havoc in its northwest and attacking US troops in neighboring...