Pakistani authorities and the local Taliban have agreed to a ceasefire in the troubled Swat valley following peace talks between militants and religious hardliners, a top official said on Saturday. Syed Mohammad Javed, the commissioner for Malakand division which includes Swat, told reporters that the security forces and the Taliban would observe the truce. He made the announcement after meeting Maulana Sufi Mohammad, a hardline cleric who is negotiating with the militants.
Four days after a peace pact was inked between religious hardliners and the North West Frontier Province government, leading cleric Maulana Sufi Mohammad is yet to make Taliban leaders accept the deal, to enforce Islamic laws in the violence-hit Swat valley.Mohammad, who has been holding talks with Taliban leaders, on Friday met its commander Maulana Fazlullah, who is his son-in-law, for direct talks as reports said the Taliban was demanding the withdrawal of security forces.
A hardliner religious leader led hundreds of his supporters in a peace march in the violence-hit north-western Swat valley in Pakistan on Wednesday apparently to convince the Taliban militants to honour a new pact reached with the government which envisages their laying down arms.
Taliban forces in Pakistan have announced a ten-day ceasefire in the restive north western Swat valley, as peace talks between a senior cleric and local authorities are believed to have struck a deal to enforce Shariah laws in some parts of the region.The announcement of the truce came a day after a Chinese engineer, abducted by the Taliban six months back, was set free in Swat as a 'goodwill gesture'.
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