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NWFP government frees pro-Taliban cleric

ISLAMABAD: The new Awami National Party-led government in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) has taken its first major decision by freeing an elderly cleric who heads a pro-Taliban group, in return for guarantees that his group would cooperate in the restoration of peace in the province.

Maulana Sufi Mohammed, supreme leader of the banned Tehreek Nifaz Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM), was released on Monday after more than six years in prison. He was arrested in November 2001 when he was returning to Pakistan from Afghanistan where he led a small group of fighters to wage war against U.S. troops.

He is the father-in-law of Maulana Fazlullah, who took over as the effective head of the TNSM in the long absence of Maulana Sufi and turned it into a far more radical organisation than it was before.

Last November, the Pakistani military had to send in troops to dislodge his private army from vast swathes of territory in Swat district of the NWFP, over which he had established a parallel government.

The Army said many of his fighters surrendered, but Maulana Fazlullah managed to flee into a mountain hide-out from where he continues to preach a militant brand of Islam over an illegal FM radio station. He is also known as Radio Mullah for his fiery broadcasts.

Reports from Swat said the 70-year-old Maulana Sufi was given a warm welcome by hundreds of people in the Malakand division when he visited the TNSM headquarters there following his release.

The freeing of the cleric is the first big step that the ANP-led government has taken towards implementing its policy of moving away from using force to tame militant Islamists in the frontier areas.

The ANP has said that it will engage militants in talks and wean them away from violence by giving the frontier regions a “political” solution and undertaking development works in the region.

In return for his release, Maulana Sufi has signed a peace agreement with the government.

Under the terms of the release, the cleric has agreed to stick to a “peaceful struggle” for the enforcement of Sharia, which is the goal of the TNSM. He has also agreed to respect state institutions so that the government can establish its writ and restore peace in the NWFP.

Maulana Sufi also distanced the TNSM from “elements” involved in attacks on the army, police and other security forces, and promised to cooperate fully with the NWFP government for the restoration of peace in the province. The agreement also states that attacks on “brother Muslims” are “anti-Islamic.”

Analysts said the success of the agreement depended on whether Maulana Fazlullah would respect the peace agreement that his father-in-law had struck with the government.

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