Pakistani Taliban urge lawmakers to back Swat deal

[April 13, 2009]  ISLAMABAD (AP) -- Pakistani lawmakers who do not support a peace deal with the Taliban that imposes Islamic law in a northwestern valley will be considered to have abandoned Islam, a spokesman for the extremists warned Monday.

Muslim Khan did not say whether the Taliban would punish legislators opposing the deal other than to say a militant council would discuss the matter. The charge of apostasy, or abandoning Islam, carries the death penalty in some quarters.

The provincial government in northwestern Pakistan agreed in February to impose Islamic law in the Swat Valley and surrounding areas in exchange for a cease-fire with Taliban fighters who have terrorized the area for some 18 months, killing hundreds.

But amid criticism from human rights activists and Western allies worried that Swat will become a militant sanctuary, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has delayed signing the agreement.

His stance has long been that he won't sign until peace is achieved in the area -- but he hasn't defined what that means. The delay led a hardline cleric mediating the agreement to leave Swat in anger last week while also upsetting lawmakers from the region.

Over the weekend, the federal government said Zardari wanted opinions from members of Parliament first. A floor debate was expected later Monday, though it was not clear whether lawmakers would vote on the issue.

Zahid Khan, information secretary for the Awami National Party, which leads the provincial government, warned that it will review its alliance with Zardari's party if the delays continue.

The ANP says an Islamic legal system meets the demands of Swat residents for a more efficient legal system and is the best hope for ending the bloodshed in Swat.

"We are not against taking up the issue in Parliament, but this is not constitutionally needed," Zahid Khan said. "The president has the power to do it on his own, and he must do it to avoid any worsening of situation in Swat."

In a sign that Zardari may be searching for political cover to avoid backing the deal, a top member of his party on Monday accused the Taliban of failing to hold up their end of the bargain.

Those brokering the deal have given few specifics about conditions placed on the Taliban.

But Pakistan People's Party information secretary Fauzia Wahab said the Taliban were supposed to cooperate with security forces, denounce suicide attacks, close their training camps and turn over their weapons, among other measures.

They hadn't kept their end of the bargain, she said, insisting, "The agreement was two-way, it was not one-way."

Muslim Khan, the Taliban spokesman, said the militants would not oppose a parliamentary debate as a way "to relieve the foreign external pressure," but "if there is any opposition in the assembly to this regulation, then we will know who are the true Muslims and who are the apostates."

Swat is but one trouble spot in Pakistan's northwest, where al-Qaida and the Taliban have a series of strongholds.

In the Bannu area, a police explosives expert was killed as he tried to defuse a bomb attached to a bridge. The blast also wounded two other people, said Iqbal Khan, a senior police official.

[Associated Press; By ZARAR KHAN]

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