Pakistan agrees to more Islamic rules in Swat

[Coventina]

Source: International Herald Tribune

MINGORA, Pakistan: Pakistani authorities have agreed to close shops at prayer times and crack down on prostitution and drug dealers as part of a proposed peace deal with militants that will impose Islamic law in a northwest valley.

The latest round of talks appear to expand the scope of what Pakistan had said it would do in the Swat Valley to pacify the Taliban, and it could prompt more criticism by Western officials and human rights activists that Pakistan is creating a haven for the militants.

Pakistani officials have said militants will have to agree not to display their weapons under any deal, but have not said whether they will have to give them up.

Taliban insurgents have made great gains against the Pakistani military in Swat, a former tourist haven, over the past year in fighting that has killed hundreds and forced up to one-third of the area's 1.5 million residents to flee.



Read more: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/03/05/asia/AS-Pakistan-Peace-Deal.php

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Pakistan may as well go ahead and just give the country to the Taliban. That's what is going to end up happening anyway....

[varun]

1. Islamabad is 100 miles from Swat

and Taliban will not stop at Swat.

[Coventina]

2. Exactly. eom

[ohio2007]

10. no...Islamabad is 14 centuries away from Swat

jmo

[fujiyama]

3. Wow, the Pakistani government isn't even ACTING like they're doing something

Instead, they've just capitulated. I guess they figure the rest of the world is too distracted with the financial crisis anyways. In Pakistan the financial crisis is ongoing and because they have nothing to lose at this point anyways. The country is basically bankrupt and is being bailed out by the IMF.

[noonwitch]

4. When I was a kid, Swat was an independent nation

According to the Childcraft books, at least. They had a ruler who was called the Sultan of Swat-that's why the nickname for whatever baseball player had that as a nickname was funny.

[SpartanDem]

5. Great

Why don't they give the Taliban their nukes while they're at it. Pakistan needs to grow a fucking backbone.

[truebrit71]

6. India will not sit idly by as the Taliban continues to make inroads. Pakistan has less than 2 years

...before it completely collapses...maybe less..and there is no way on God's green earth that India will allow the Taliban to control nukes...

This is where the first nuclear conflict in human history will start..if the Isreali's don't start their own first against Iran...

[YDogg]

9. sadly, i believe you are correct

[peace_to_world]

13. more violence! more blood!

Why can't you thing above violence.The world should and must learn from the past.

[leftynyc]

15. Your head is in the clouds

The Taliban only understand violence as it is their only weapon. Being "nice" to these animals will only get you killed.

[ohio2007]

7. Taliban send message to "moderates" in Peshwar; "We are comming"

A letter delivered three days before the attack to the management of the mausoleum of Sufi poet Rehman Baba on the outskirts of Peshawar warned against its promotion of "shrine culture," said Sahibzada Mohammad Anees, a top government official in the city.

The letter also noted that women were coming to pray at the shrine, he said.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29528251/

[tanngrisnir3]

8. Unfortunately, the only effective way to deal w/Taliban is to kill them.

Makes for an easy choice that is not so easily carried out.

[peace_to_world]

11. Peace can only be attained by understanding

       America is fighting Taliban for many years,Russians
fought them for nine years but you know what Taliban are
increasing in number than decreasing.There children are born
during war and brought up during war so they are not afraid to
die.They are not afraid of anything either American or any
other military forces.We have filled their hearts with hatred
for us.I agree that they are fundamentalists but the reason
behind it is that they are not educated.The peace deal is not
a failure of Pakistani authorities but is an encouraging step
and is in interests of the people of swat so that people could
live in peace.

       Ralph Waldo Emerson said:

"peace cannot be achieved through violence;it can only be
attained through understanding"  

[peace_to_world]

12. Peace deal in swat:The truth

- Peace deal; Facts out of fiction :

The basic points of deal:

1. Sharia law would be implemented in Swat and Malakand.

2. Security forces will gradually withdraw from the region.

3. The government and the Taliban would exchange prisoners.

4. Militants would recognize the writ of the government and cooperate with security forces.

5. Taliban would halt attacks on barber and music shops.

6. Ban on display of weapons by militants in public.

7. Taliban would lay down heavy weapons (rockets, mortars).

8. Taliban would close down training camps.

9. Taliban would denounce suicide attacks.

10. A ban would be placed on raising private militias.

11. Taliban will cooperate with the government to vaccinate children against diseases like polio.

12. Fazlullah's madrassa, the Imam Dheri would be turned into an Islamic university.

13. Only licensed FM radio stations would be allowed to operate in the region.

14. Taliban would allow women to "perform their duties at the workplace without any fear."

Gains and Losses:

A cursory look at the above points concludes at some optimistic view that the deal demands a lot more from militants than government in return

It seems the people of Swat and Government of NWFP are victorious rather than militants as claimed by many self-claimed South Asian experts sitting thousands of miles away from Swat serving Western and US media.

source:www.asiantribune.com

Maulana Sufi Muhammed has demanded Nizam-i-adal in the region or a system of justice which is in interests of people of swat.

Swat peace deal is a ray of hope among people of Pakistan because it will end conflicts between our military men and the regional Taliban.The people displaced during the Swat operation could return to their homes.

[Coventina]

14. Riiiiiight

The Taliban will become peace-loving, live-and-let-live guys once this agreement is in place.

Sure thing.

:crazy:

[leftynyc]

16. Trust the Taliban?

Are you deranged?

Edited to add: look at post 7 and tell me these animals can be reasoned with.

[ohio2007]

17. Taliban blow up (16) Pakistan music shops: police ( Don't sell 'Cat Stevens' "Peace Train")

the peace deal points


5. Taliban would halt attacks on barber and music shops.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) — Taliban militants blew up 16 shops selling music and DVDs in northwest Pakistan overnight, police said Thursday.

"An improvised explosive device planted in a market selling music and DVDs in Takhtbhai town blew up 16 shops overnight," local police official Fazal Mabood told AFP, blaming Taliban insurgents.

There were no casualties in the attack in the town, northwest of Peshawar, because the market was closed at the time of explosion, he added.

Islamist militants have bombed scores of entertainment shops across the country's northwest in recent years, charging that music and films are contrary to the teachings of Islam.

In the Swat valley, the government last month signed a deal with a pro-Taliban cleric to enforce Islamic law after Islamist hardliners waged a nearly two-year insurgency to enforce their repressive interpretation of Islam.

In Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province, militants fired at least 20 mortar rounds which landed in open spaces late Wednesday.

"Militants tried to hit a police station and other buildings but the rockets missed the targets and landed in open spaces on the outskirts of Peshawar," ....

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hBMCt5YhEC4hRzH2UqzEI1FKHoOg





watch out for that 'moonshadow'. It'll cut you
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGNxKnLmOH4&feature=related
cut you deep