Peshawar, Pakistan - The much-criticized agreement with
Taliban in Pakistan's restive Swat valley stands on increasingly
shaky ground since last week, when its major broker Maulana Sufi
Mohammad packed up his peace camp and left the region in protest.
The cleric accused President Asif Ali Zardari of insincerity in
implementing the two-month agreement, but local politicians and
intelligence officials blame hardcore elements linked to al-Qaeda
within the Taliban ranks over whom Mohammad has little control.
Since February 16, when the regional government in the North West
Frontier Province (NWFP) signed the truce deal with Mohammad,
hardcore fighters have repeatedly violated it by attacking security
forces, kidnapping government officials and expanding their influence
to nearby areas.
Those developments held Zardari back from formal approval of the
accord, under which officials agreed to enforce Islamic laws through
government-sanctioned courts in Swat and its seven neighbouring
districts in exchange for peace.
Reportedly, Zardari is also under pressure from Washington and
other Western allies who believe that new deal, like similar ones in
the past, would only give the Taliban more time to reorganize and
expand their influence.
The president will sign 'the agreement only after complete peace
and serenity is restored in Swat,' said Information Minister Qamar
Zaman Kaira.
But the complete peace in Swat seems only a remote possibility,
and so is the success of the truce.
'The Taliban in Swat are clearly divided over (the) peace deal,'
said a local lawmaker, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
On one side, there are Islamist insurgents with local interests.
They are led by Mohammad's disciple and son-in-law Maulana Fazlullah,
who launched an armed campaign against the government in October 2007
for the enforcement of Islamic sharia law in Swat, located some 140
kilometres north-west of Islamabad.
'Fazlullah is reconcilable and supportive of his father-in-law's
peace initiative. He seems ready to lay down arms and return to
normal life if his demands are met,' said a local lawmaker from
nationalist Awami National Party which rules the NWFP.
'But the opposition comes from what we call here the Tora Bora
group,' added the lawmaker, who spoke on condition of anonymity
because he has been on the Taliban's hit list.
The faction consists of foreign fighters and local militants
trained by al-Qaeda operatives, who operated in the Afghan region of
Tora Bora where Osama bin Laden dodged US forces in early 2002 before
going underground.
Led by hardline chief commander Ibn Amin, and six other
commanders, the group follows al-Qaeda's 'global jihad' philosophy
and has little interest in peace in Swat.
'They know if the peace agreement is fully implemented, al-Qaeda
fighters will have to leave the region. This is something they cannot
accept,' said the lawmaker.
According to one local intelligence official, between 1,000 and
1,400 al-Qaeda fighters, most of them from Central Asian countries,
are present in the areas of Qambar, Kabal, Charbagh, Khwazakhela and
Matta that are strongholds of Amin, who also heads an al-Qaeda
training camp in Peuchar village of the Swat district.
'In a way Fazlullah's role is that of a spiritual leader, who has
given militants the violent ideology, but Ibn Amin is the chief
commander of the militant forces,' the intelligence official said.
'And that is why Amin has direct influence over a large number of
militants and is supported by the fighters who are more trained and
well-equipped than the ones controlled by some commanders loyal to
Fazlullah,' he added.
Amin, in his 30s, came to the limelight in late 2006 when he led a
group of militants, some from al-Qaeda, to rob a bank in Chaprial
area and killed some of the villagers who chased them. The attackers
were arrested but mysteriously released later by the authorities.
Always dressed in a Muslim shroud, a white un-sewn sheet, which
symbolizes his desire for so-called martyrdom, Amin is feared even by
his comrades for his brutality.
From day one, he has tried to sabotage the peace deal under
different pretensions.
He pressed Fazlullah and Mohammad to go further than establishing
Islamic courts and put forward demands that brings almost every
sphere of public life under the militants' self-defined narrow
interpretation of Islam.
In order to avoid further bloodshed, the provincial government
accepted even these tough demands under a 17-point accord, which
allows a ban on music, expulsion of prostitutes and pimps from the
area, closure of businesses during prayer times, and a campaign
against what they call obscenity.
The military and paramilitary troops were also confined to their
camps, but the militants continued their violent actions on a lesser
scale.
Attackers loyal to Amin raided the neighbouring Buner district
last week and killed five people, including three policemen,
challenging their influence in the area.
'Maulana Sufi Mohammad knew he could not deliver what the
government was expecting from him,' said former interior minister
Hamid Nawaz.
'He was unable to convince the Taliban to lay down their weapons
and allow the government to restore its writ, so he left. It was just
a face-saving exercise,' added Nawaz, predicting the failure of the
peace deal.
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