Cleric With Taliban Ties Is Arrested In Pakistan

Associated Press
Monday, July 27, 2009

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, July 26 -- Pakistani police arrested an influential pro-Taliban cleric on Sunday who had brokered a failed peace deal in northern Pakistan's troubled Swat Valley, an indication that the government will no longer negotiate with militants.

Authorities accused Sufi Mohammad -- father-in-law of Swat's notorious Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah -- of encouraging violence and terrorism.

The peace deal in February imposed sharia, or Islamic law, in the valley in exchange for an end to two years of fighting. But it was widely seen as handing over control of Swat, once a popular tourist destination, to the Taliban.

The deal collapsed in April when the Taliban advanced south out of Swat, triggering a military offensive and retaliatory attacks by militants in the northwest and beyond. About 2 million people fled the region, and although hundreds of thousands have returned in the past two weeks as the military operation winds down, sporadic fighting continues.

"At this critical juncture, we cannot allow, we cannot let a person walk free, a person who has supported terrorists," said Mian Iftikhar Hussain, information minister for North-West Frontier Province.

"Instead of keeping his promises by taking steps for the sake of peace, and speaking out against terrorism, he did not utter a single word against terrorists," Iftikhar said in a news conference in Peshawar.

Mohammad leads a pro-Taliban group known as the Movement for the Enforcement of Islamic Law. He was jailed in 2002 but was freed last year after renouncing violence.

Mohammad was not in control of armed militants in Swat. The Taliban's ability to bounce back from the recent offensive will depend on the leaders, including the cleric's son-in-law. Despite rumors to the contrary, none has been captured or is known to have been killed.