Pakistan

Taliban declare ten-day ceasefire in Swat Valley, peace deal possible Monday

Article published on the 2009-02-15 Latest update 2009-02-15 16:53 TU

Swat villagers flee fighting earlier in the month
(Photo: Reuters)

Taliban fighters in Pakistan's Swat Valley have announced a ten-day ceasfire with the government, as they discuss introducing elements of Sharia law in the strife-torn area. On Saturday they released a Chinese engineer they had held for six months as "a goodwill gesture".

Provincial officals and Taliban members say they may sign a peace deal on Monday.

The government of North-West Frontier Province, where the valley is situated, earlier held a final round of talks with a militant leader, Soofi Mohammad, on enforcement of Sharia law in Swat and Malakand districts, Provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain told the AFP news agency.

"The talks were very positive and the people of Swat will hear good news soon," he said.

Soofi Mohammad, whose son-in-law, Maulana Fazlullah, leads the insurgency in favour of tough Sharia law in the region, said talks on a draft agreement had been successful and an agreement could be signed on Monday.

"We had been holding negotiations with the government on a 22-point charter of demands for quite some time," he said. "There were differences on five points which have been removed in a meeting on Sunday,"

Previous peace deals have broken down but the government is trying to reach a deal with the armed Islamists, having failed to resolve the long-term insurgency in the valley.

On Saturday Chinese engineer Long Xiaowei was handed over to local officials in the Swat Valley, where armed Islamists have fought the military for several months.

Chinese representatives, who have refused to say if a ransom was paid, report that he is unwell.

Long was one of two Chinese captured six months ago when they were checking a Pakistani telecommunications installation in the area.

Both men tried to escape in October. Long's companion succeeded in finding his way to an army post but he was recaptured after hurting his leg when he fell down a mountain slope.

Taliban recently beheaded Polish geologist, Piotr Stanczak.

On Sunday the body of Afghan national Imdad Khan was found in the North Waziristan region. He had been shot and a note on the body claimed that he had been "spying for the US".

The note also warned local people not to move the body until late afternoon to show passers-by that "this is the fate of spies".

In Karachi on Saturday, members of a legal Islamic party Jamaat-e-Ulema staged protests against Pakistanis marking Valentines Day. They burnt cards and chanted slogans.

Like Hindu activists in neighbouring India, they have criticised the observation of the Christian saint's day as alien to local culture and an incitation to sexual licence.