Pakistani Islamists Ask Taliban For Peace In Swat

Pakistan`s army is already struggling to quell Taliban insurgencies dotted across the northwest.

A radical Muslim cleric sent emissaries to his Taliban son-in-law on Thursday to seek peace in Pakistan's Swat valley after earlier prising an offer from the government to restore Islamic law to the region.

Critics say that by turning to former militant Maulana Sufi Mohammad to play peacemaker, the government showed its weakness in the face of an Islamist tide rolling over the northwest.

How much influence the elderly Mohammad can exert over son-in-law Maulana Fazlullah is also in doubt, they say, as the younger man has forged ties with al Qaeda and Islamist militants from elsewhere in Pakistan.

Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan told Reuters that talks were underway, but the murder on Wednesday night of a journalist underscored insecurity in the valley and cast a pall over hopes for peace.

Between 250,000 and 500,000 people have fled Swat since Fazlullah launched a campaign of violence, according to Amnesty International, and at least 1,200 civilians have been killed in the former tourist paradise 130 km (90 miles) north of Islamabad.

The accord reached between the government and Mohammad, who has been at the vanguard of a long violent struggle for the establishment of Islamic law in Swat, has sent a chill through Western allies with troops in nearby Afghanistan.

Mohammad, who spent six years in jail for leading thousands of fighters to Afghanistan in a vain bid to help the Taliban there repel U.S.-backed forces in 2001, is a respected figure among conservatives, particularly in more remote villages.

ARMED UPRISING

He led an armed uprising in 1994 for the restoration of Islamic law in Swat and also challenged authorities with protests over the government's failure to honour agreements.

Western officials fear that the concession to reinstate sharia in a large part of the northwest will encourage Islamist militancy in the region at a time when U.S. President Barack Obama has ordered 17,000 more troops to go to Afghanistan.

Pakistan's army is already struggling to quell Taliban insurgencies dotted across the northwest.

Government officials argue that dealing with Mohammad was a better option than using force, as inevitable civilian casualties would further alienate the people of the region.

They say also that Islamic law being introduced will be nothing like the Taliban idea of sharia, which includes summary executions and punishment by amputation and flogging.

President Asif Ali Zardari has said he will only sign-off on an Islamic system of justice when peace is restored. The Taliban announced a 10 day ceasefire on Sunday.

Unidentified gunmen killed Mohammad Musa Khankhel, a journalist for Geo News and the News daily, on Wednesday while he was covering a peace march by Mohammad to the village of Matta, the Taliban stronghold in Swat.

Zardari vowed the government would bring those responsible to justice, while the Taliban spokesman said it was "the work of those forces who want to sabotage peace efforts".