PAKISTAN: Firebrand Pakistani cleric Maulalana Fazlullah ready for talks to end fighting

A pro-Taliban cleric leading an armed uprising in Pakistan's northwest calls for the withdrawal of troops from the region to pave the way for negotiations. His followers warn Pakistani government trouble in the volatile region will continue until Islamic 'Sharia' law is imposed. A firebrand pro-Taliban cleric leading an armed uprising in Pakistan's northwest called on Friday (November 2) for the withdrawal of troops from the volatile region to pave the way for negotiations to end days of fighting. Scores of people have been killed in the scenic Swat valley in North West Frontier Province since last week, after government send around 2,000 troops to quell a violent campaign by cleric Maulalana Fazlullah to impose strict Islamic code in the conservative region. A delegation of clerics and local politicians met with Fazlullah on Friday to try to end the standoff. A member of the negotiating team told Reuters Fazlullah had said he was ready to hold talks with the government but had set three conditions for the talks, including withdrawal of security forces from Swat, enforcement of Islamic Sharia law and that all legal cases against his followers be dropped. Militant Nasir Iqbal said: "All this cruelty -- shelling of madrasas, destroying mosque, killing girls and women -- all this is cruel. We will take revenge for this cruelty until Sharia (Islamic law) is imposed." Government spokesmen were not available for comment. Earlier on Friday, the militants claimed that around 48 paramilitary soldiers had surrendered to them in the village of Charbagh. They paraded the men wearing plain clothes before journalists, describing them as soldiers. The government has rejected the militants' claim, saying none of its soldiers had surrendered. Hours later, the militants announced they had released the soldiers. Swat, which lies close to Pakistan's lawless tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, has seen a surge in militant activity since Fazlullah launched an illegal FM radio station and urged a holy war after an army assault on a militant mosque in the capital Islamabad in July. The latest fighting erupted last week after a suicide bombing targeting an army convoy killed 21 people. The militants executed 13 people, including six members of the security forces whom they beheaded. More than 180 people have been killed overall. Thousands of people have already fled the valley amid fears of more fighting.

ITN Source | November 3, 2007

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