Negotiate With Who?

April 15, 2009 by Jonathan Movroydis | Filed Under Afghanistan 

The Pakistani military all but gave the Swat Valley to the Taliban in exchange for anassurance that they would lay down their guns… Fat chance:

Pakistani Taliban will not lay down their arms in a northwestern valley as part of a deal that included the introduction of sharia law but will take their “struggle” to new areas, a militant spokesman said on Wednesday.

President Asif Ali Zardari, under pressure from conservatives, signed a regulation on Monday imposing Islamic sharia law in the Swat valley to end Taliban violence.

The strategy of appeasement has alarmed U.S. officials, while critics say the government has demonstrated a lack of capacity and will to fight the Taliban and al Qaeda.

Details of the deal have not been made public but government officials backing the pact have said part of it was that militants would give up their arms.

But a Pakistani Taliban spokesman in the scenic valley, a one-time tourist destination 125 km (80 miles) northwest of Islamabad, said they would be keeping their guns.

“Sharia doesn’t permit us to lay down arms,” Muslim Khan said by telephone. “If a government, either in Pakistan or Afghanistan, continues anti-Muslim policies, it’s out of the question that Taliban lay down their arms.”

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