Swat peace in jeopardy

PESHAWAR (Agencies) - A pro-Taliban cleric lashed out at President Asif Ali Zardari Thursday for not ratifying a deal imposing Sharia law in Swat valley, holding him accountable for any return to violence.
Februarys agreement between Sufi Muhammad and government to implement Sharia law in the northwest Swat valley triggered alarm around the world, raising fears it would embolden Taliban and Al-Qaeda extremism.
Sharia courts were reported last month to have started work in Swat valley, but Zardari had not yet signed the agreement into law, as had been agreed in terms of the peace deal, Muhammad said.
I am ending my peace camp in Swat and if any bloodshed occurs, President Zardari and the federal government will be responsible, Muhammad told a news conference in Mingora, the main town in the former ski resort of Swat.
The announcement casts serious doubt on the durability of a ceasefire in the Swat valley that US officials worry will create another sanctuary for allies of al-Qaeda responsible for a rising tide of violence in the country.
Thanks in part to Muhammads mediation, the agreement ended 18 months of terror and bloody clashes that had left hundreds dead and forced up to one-third of the previously prosperous valleys 1.5 million residents to flee. Thousands of Taliban followers spent nearly two years waging a terrifying campaign to enforce Sharia law in Swat - beheading opponents, bombing girls schools, outlawing entertainment and fighting government forces.
But the militants have retained their arms and this week pushed into a neighbouring area where they fought deadly gunbattles with villagers and police.
President Asif Ali Zardari has said he will only sign an order introducing Islamic law in the region once peace has been restored - without saying how that would be determined.
The provincial government is sincere in implementing the Sharia-based justice system but President Zardari is not signing it so I am leaving my peace camp, said Muhammad.
He said that he was making the move in protest and charged that without Sharia there cannot be any peace in Swat.
Television footage showed dozens of Muhammads supporters crammed into a column of cars and driving out of Mingora, some of them clutching black and white flags.
Sufi Muhammad, who was jailed for six years in Pakistan after leading thousands of supporters into Afghanistan to fight US-led troops, had camped out at a preaching centre in Mingora since signing the Sharia deal in February.
Muhammads spokesman Ameer Izzat emphasised that no one had quit the peace agreement, only that the cleric was moving to another place in Swat where a consultative council would decide the next course of action.
We have ended our camp here and going to Aman Darra. The peace agreement is not over. The Shura will meet and decide about the future, Izzat told AFP.
The February Sharia deal came under further controversy last week when a video broadcast on television channels showed the public flogging of a veiled woman in Swat that incensed the nation of more than 160 million.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry has opened a hearing into the case, apparently involving a 17-year-old girl.
Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the information minister of North West Frontier Province, said he believed the federal government was sincere in supporting the peace effort, but said he couldnt say when the Sharia law bill would be signed.
We are committed to bringing about a durable peace and we will continue our efforts in the changed situation, Hussain said.
He hoped that the issues surrounding the Sharia agreement could be resolved through dialogue.
Our agreement is intact and our straightforward strategy is that we want peace, Hussain told AFP.
It is a public demand and we also demand that the president put his signature on the law as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, the peace deal signed by NWFP Government and Tahrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat Muhammadi (TNSM) has been intact despite winding up peace camp in Swat and the talks with governments functionaries are moving in right direction, spokesman of TNSM Amir Izzat Khan said Thursday.
The TNSM Chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad has not pulled himself out of the Swat peace deal and he (Sufi) announced only winding up peace camp in Swat, Amir Izzat Khan told reporters here.
Clearing the TNSMs position, the Spokesman declared that his partys peace accord with provincial government is intact and the talks with NWFP government are in progress and is moving on right direction. He, however, expressed his concerns over the federal governments attitude over implementation of Nizam-e- Adl Regulations.
He said that the urgent implementation of Adl Regulations 2009 will ensure lasting peace in the troubled areas of Swat district. He said that TNSM will continue to cooperate with the government as far as peace is concerned.