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Pakistan, Taliban Call Indefinite Truce

Militants agree to extend ceasefire in Swat valley

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Feb 24, 2009 4:37 AM CST

(Newser) – Taliban militants and Pakistani officials have agreed to an indefinite ceasefire in the country's troubled Swat valley, Reuters reports. The agreement extends an earlier 10-day truce in which the Taliban agreed to lay down their arms in return for Islamic sharia law being enforced in the area. Militants in the neighboring Bajaur region have also announced a ceasefire.

A Taliban spokesman in the Swat valley said they had released three prisoners, including two politicians, as "a gesture of goodwill." The ceasefire follows more than a year of violence which has displaced hundreds of thousands of people. Western governments fear the truce will create a sanctuary for the region's Islamic militants, although the Pakistani military said that would not be the case if the rule of the state was re-established.

[Images (4)]

[Videos (1)]

Supporters of pro-Taliban cleric Sufi Muhammad offer noon prayers in Mingora, the capital of Pakistan's troubled Swat Valley, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2009. (AP Photo/Sherin Zada)

Supporters of pro-Taliban cleric Sufi Muhammad arrive in Mingora, in the Swat valley of Pakistan on Saturday, Feb 21, 2009. (AP Photo/Sherin Zada)

Supporters of pro-Taliban cleric Sufi Muhammad march in Swat's main city of Mingora on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2009 in Pakistan. (AP Photo/Sherin Zada)

Pakistani soldiers patrol in Swat, Pakistan, Monday, Nov. 17, 2008. (AP Photo/Sherin Zada)

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CNN reports on the agreement between Pakistan and Islamic militants in the Swat Valley. (CNN Video)

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Pakistan, Taliban Call Indefinite Truce