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India-Pakistan

JUI-F alleges killing of its scholars in custody

2009-08-22

[The News (Pak)] Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl) has accused the NWFP government of killing scores of religious scholars and demanded the release of 120 activists of the party forthwith. Speaking at a news conference after a meeting of the provincial executive council and district heads of the party, JUI-F Provincial President Maulana Gul Naseeb Khan alleged a number of non-militant religious scholars had been arrested during the military operation in Malakand Division and several of them were killed in custody. He alleged that the spokesman for banned Tanzim Nifaz Shariat-e-Mohammadi Ameer Izzat Khan, Maulana Mohammad Alam, Maulana Fazle Haq, Maulana Liaqat, Maulana Mohammad Ameen and Maulana Mohammad Yaqub had been killed after their arrest. He said that 10-15 religious seminaries and mosques were destroyed during the operation, while more than 120 activists of the JUI and religious scholars were still under detention. He said the government should immediately announce reconstruction of the demolished seminaries and mosques. The government should also release all the detained "innocent" people. The JUI-F leader condemned the military operation in the settled districts of the Frontier and adjacent tribal belt and said the use of force could not be a solution to any problem.

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India-Pakistan

Pakistan: Minister rejects reports of Sufi Mohammad's arrest

2009-06-06

[ADN Kronos] The Pakistani government has rejected reports that the militant leader Maulana Sufi Mohammad has been arrested by security officials. Translation: Somebody picked him up. When his protectors herd about it they apologized and let him go. Interior minister Rehman Malik said on Friday that Sufi Mohammad, the chief of the hardline Tehrik-i-Nifaz-i-Shariat-i-Muhammadi, had not been detained in a raid in North West Frontier Province. In case you haven't been paying attention, Sufi sez it's his job to reach agreements with the government, not to keep them. Media reports quoting sources on Thursday said Sufi Mohammad, and three other TNSM officials, had been arrested from the Amandara region of Lower Dir. On Friday, the Pakistani army said it had arrested several senior associates of the Islamist cleric, Sufi Mohammed. Military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said six men, including Sufi Mohammad's deputy Maulana Mohammed Alim, had been detained. The arrests took place during a raid on a religious seminary. Where else? Come to think of it, what kind of seminary is there beside a religious seminary? Maulana Alam and Amir Izzat were "accidentally" banged today in an ambush. Sufi Mohammed is the father-in-law of the Taliban leader in the troubled northwest Swat region, Maulana Fazlullah. He's periodically been reported dead, but nobody's produced a corpse. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Thursday confirmed that TNSM's central council member Maulana Wahab, spokesman Ameer Izzat Khan and deputy Maulana Alam, had been arrested during the raid, DawnNews reported. Sufi Mohammed negotiated the peace deal imposing Islamic law in Swat, which fell apart when Taliban fighters moved into neighbouring districts.

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India-Pakistan

Sufi Mohammad's son killed in Lower Dir shelling

2009-05-07

LOWER DIR: Sufi Mohammad's son Kifyatullah has been killed in shelling during the security forces' operation in Lower Dir's Maidan area, said family sources. Meanwhile, intense clashes between militants and security forces continued in Maidan as 15 troops went missing in the district. 'I have been informed by the family of Maulana Sufi Mohammad that his son, Kifayatullah, has died and his brother-in-law is seriously injured,' said the TNSM spokesman, Ameer Izzat Khan. The TNSM chief, Sufi Mohammad, has been calling for an end to the military operation in the area since it started, threatening to abandon the peace deal with the government and making numerous objections to the implementation of the Nizam-i-Adl. Following this event it is uncertain how the TNSM chief will react, making the future of the peace deal highly sketchy. DER!

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India-Pakistan

Armed Taliban back on Mingora roads : TNSM rejects Darul Qaza

2009-05-04

Swat cleric Sufi Muhammad's banned Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) -- which had promised to ensure peace in the restive valley in return for the establishment of sharia courts -- on Sunday rejected the Darul Qaza appellate court set up by the NWFP government. Ameer Izzat Khan, the chief spokesman for Sufi Muhammad, said that the government had acted unilaterally in establishing the Darul Qaza and had violated the peace agreement. He said it had been decided in a May 1 meeting between the provincial government and the TNSM in Timergara that the government would first announce an end to the operations in Malakand following which the Taliban would declare a ceasefire. Meanwhile, armed Taliban were out on Mingora streets on Sunday in what the ISPR called gross violation of the peace deal. "Militants are involved in various criminal activities threatening the lives of the civilian population, the civil administration as well as security forces personnel," it said. Early on Sunday, the Taliban blew up a girls' high school in Ningolai area of Kabal tehsil. The building was completely razed. Late on Sunday, a mechanic was held from Watakai Chowk when he was preparing a vehicle for a suicide attack. Another vehicle prepared for a suicide attack was on its way to Saidu Sharif Swat when the troops spotted it. The vehicle was destroyed after a gunfight. Three Taliban were arrested along with a suicide vehicle in Mingora, the ISPR said. The Taliban attacked a grid station with rockets, destroying the facility and disrupting power supply to Mingora. They also attacked a police station in Rahimabad late on Saturday. The ensuing gunfight continued until Sunday morning. The Taliban also attempted to blow up the Chamtalai Bridge in Khawazakhela. The key bridge was partially damaged. Four Taliban were reportedly injured in a clash after they attacked the security forces in Sambat Ridge area. The Taliban abducted the Mingora town municipal officer and his son from Sharifabad. They released the two later but seized their vehicle. In Madyan, the Taliban fired at security forces killing one soldier. Three other soldiers were injured in various clashes with the Taliban in Swat. A civilian was killed as security forces and the Taliban clashed in the Madyan summer resort. Two beheaded bodies were found in the Alam Ganj area of Khwazakhela. Witnesses said both were FC personnel. The Taliban also robbed a bank in Chakdara bazaar. Reports said they took away Rs 600,000 from Habib Bank.

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India-Pakistan

Swat deal is over: Muslim Khan

2009-05-04

The Swat peace pact stands dissolved and the militants present in Swat, Matta, Kabal and Sangla as well as their commanders have asked for permission to fight everywhere, sources told The News on Sunday. “Our peace agreement with the NWFP government practically stands dissolved,” confirmed Muslim Khan, a spokesman for the Swat chapter of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), while talking to The News via telephone. ìForces are attacking us and our fighters are also retaliating,î he said. The TTP Swat spokesman vowed that their fighters would now attack security forces and the government figures everywhere. He said the rulers were obeying every directive of US President Barack Obama. ìIf the Awami National Party supports us, we will not harm them. But if they sided with the government, they too will become our target. However, our main target will be security forces and the rulers of Pakistan. We will also act in other cities of Pakistan but will not target the general public,î the TTP spokesman said. To a question, the TTP spokesman ruled out the involvement of India and Afghanistan and said no outside elements were involved in the Swat unrest. When asked about the dissolution of the Swat peace agreement, Spokesman for the Awami National Party Senator Zahid Khan said that they had signed the accord with TNSM chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad and not with the Swat Taliban. He said the Taliban had been violating the accord time and again. When contacted, TNSM spokesman Ameer Izzat Khan said he did not know about the scrapping of the agreement but if the operation continued in the region, the situation would return to the one that prevailed before the pact. He claimed the general public in Swat was now opposed to the government. Answering a question about the peace accordís scrapping, the TNSM spokesman said: ìWe do not know as to who is conducting the operation — the federal government or security forces — but we know that it is being launched to please the United States.î Regarding the involvement of India and Afghanistan in the Swat imbroglio, the TNSM spokesman claimed the two countries had nothing to do with the unrest in the region. He said it was only a reaction to the government policies. He said neither they had amassed arms nor were they getting financial help from abroad. He said the people of Swat had been demanding the enforcement of the Islamic law in the area since 1989. ìIf the prevailing situation persists, the government will lose control over the area and reaction to the government actions will also be witnessed in other cities of the country. In that situation, even the TNSM will be unable to control the situation,î Ameer Izzat Khan claimed.

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India-Pakistan

Govt-TNSM talks end on positive note, agree to continue talks

2009-05-02

[Associated Press of Pakistan] The talks between the provincial authorities and TNSM Chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad Friday held at Timergara in Dir Lower ended on positive note as both sides expressed unanimity of views on various issues including setting up of Darul Qaza, NAR 2009 and agreed to forward the peace process in the days to come. Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain in his capacity as Spokesman of the NWFP Government and Senator Zahir Khan of ANP represented the government in the talks while the TNSM was represented by its head Maulana Sufi Muhammad and assisted by Naib Ameer TNSM Maulana Muhammad Alam and its Spokesman Ameer Izzat Khan. Government officials and Sufi Mohammad met for the first time Friday after talks were suspended on Monday last after operations in Buner and Dir lower districts. The Information Minister and the TNSM spokesman described the 30-minute meeting as "positive" but no date for a second meeting was announced. The Information Minister when asked about the next round of talks said, "God willing, the second round of talks will be held tomorrow or day after tomorrow but at an undisclosed location." He said the talks were held in an extremely cordial atmosphere wherein issues relating to setting up of Darul Qazza, appointments of Qazis for the Islamic courts, rehabilitation of IDPs and prevailing situation in the districts of Buner and Dir lower came under discussion. "Yes progress has been made in the talks on scores of issues", TNSM Spokesman Ameer Izzat Khan said, adding, Maulana Sufi Muhammad has summoned meeting of the TNSM Shura on Saturday (May 02) at its headquarters Amandarra in Malakand Agency to take Shura members into confidence over the talks with the government team. The people would soon hear good news about peace, he added.

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India-Pakistan

Govt rejects Sufi Mohammad's plea to end offensive

2009-05-02

[Dawn] Provincial authorities said they rejected Friday Sufi Mohammad's request to halt an offensive against Taliban militants as peace talks between the two camps resumed. Talks between the North West Frontier Province's government and Sufi Mohammad, who negotiated the peace accord in Swat valley, resumed Friday in a northwestern district, Sufi's spokesman said. Government officials and Sufi Mohammad met for the first time Friday after talks were suspended Monday when the army launched an offensive against Taliban fighters in the northwest. Provincial officials and supporters of Mohammad described the 30-minute meeting as 'positive' but no date for a second meeting was announced. 'Sufi Mohammad asked us to halt the operation,' NWFP's information minister, Iftikhar Hussain, told AFP. 'The operation will be halted when the armed people lay down their weapons because the government has to establish its writ at any cost,' he added. 'The government has given us assurances that the operation in Buner and Lower Dir will be finished.' But Mohammad's spokesman told AFP the government had given assurances that the operation would be stopped in the districts of Buner and Lower Dir. 'The government has given us assurances that the operation in Buner and Lower Dir will be finished,' Ameer Izzat Khan told AFP from Timergara, the main town in Lower Dir where the talks took place. Friday's meeting also discussed Islamic judges and the creation of an appellate court under a February deal in which the government agreed to put Malakand, a part of northwestern Pakistan, under sharia law to end a Taliban insurgency. Sufi Mohammad negotiated the accord. 'The appointments of judges of the Islamic courts will be made soon,' said the provincial information minister. Sufi Mohammad, who was previously jailed by Pakistan for leading thousands of supporters into Afghanistan to fight against the 2001 US-led invasion, rejected government-appointed judges saying they were not properly versed in sharia. When asked about a next round of dialogue, Iftikhar said: 'God willing, the second round of talks will be held soon.'

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India-Pakistan

TNSM warns of a 'storm'

2009-04-29

The Tehreek-e-Nifaaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) has warned of a 'storm' across Pakistan if the Malakand peace deal collapses. "The peace accord has weakened and is shaky," Sufi Muhammad's son Rizwanullah Farooq said by telephone from Swat on Tuesday. "If it breaks, there will be a storm in the whole country." Meanwhile, TNSM spokesman Ameer Izzat Khan said at a press conference that the Taliban had neither destroyed public property in Maidan nor declared war. He said there was no justification for the operation in Maidan.

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India-Pakistan

Sufi sets deadline for Nizam-e-Adl implementation

2009-03-02

Swat cleric Sufi Muhammad -- who has promised peace in the troubled Swat valley if the government implanted the sharia law -- warned on Sunday he wanted Islamic courts set up in two weeks. He said he was not happy over the fact that there had been no tangible progress since February 16 when the NWFP government agreed to implement the Shari Nizam-e-Adl -- a new system of justice in the restive valley. "The government announced enforcement of sharia but so far no practical step has been taken and we are not satisfied," Sufi told reporters in Swat's main town Mingora. "I'm not seeing any practical steps for the implementation of the peace agreement, except for ministers visiting Swat and uttering words," the elderly cleric said. He said he was also unhappy over a delay in an exchange of prisoners and urged both the Taliban and the government to release people they were holding by March 10. "If the government does not appoint Qazis [Islamic judges] by March 15, and the two sides do not release prisoners in their custody, we will set up protest camps," he said. The warning came only four days after Swat Taliban leader Mullah Fazlullah agreed to an indefinite ceasefire. The cleric said armed patrol by either side would not be allowed after March 1 (Sunday), and anybody who violated the truce would be charged and punished in line with the sharia law. Attack: Later, Sufi's spokesman Ameer Izzat Khan blamed the security forces for an attack on a troop convoy in Swat earlier in the day. He said the soldiers had not given prior information of their movement in accordance with the terms of the truce.

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