Islamists Reject Pact's Call To Disarm

(CBS)  By CBS News' Farhan Bokhari in Islamabad, Pakistan

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Taliban militants agitating for an Islamic system of justice in a remote northern valley of Pakistan refused to lay down their arms Sunday, one of the conditions of a peace agreement, opening the way for a possible round of bloody confrontation, senior government officials warned.

On Saturday, authorities in the northwest frontier province (NWFP) of Pakistan announced the creation of an Islamic appellate court - a key demand by Taliban-styled Islamists, but officials warned that the move was linked to a Taliban promise to disarm.

"Now, anyone carrying arms would be treated as a rebel," the provincial minister of information in the NWFP government, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, said at a press conference announcing the creation of a "darul qiza" (Islamic appellate court).

However, a senior government official of the NWFP, speaking on condition of anonymity, told CBS News Sunday that the Taliban in Swat (where the Islamic justice system has been introduced) "are refusing to lay down their arms on the crazy pretense that keeping arms is a way of life for people of the area."

In Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, a senior official said the government was actively considering all options for the area, including the possibility of launching a military operation in the valley, if the Taliban refused to "disarm completely."

"Right now, the outlook appears to be very bleak," said another senior Pakistani government official who spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity. "Do we show more patience or do we simply go in and take charge? All options are on the table."

Conditions in Swat may be one of the issues to be discussed when Pakistan's president Asif Ali Zardari visits Washington for a two-day visit beginning Wednesday. His schedule includes a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama.

American officials have recently shown alarm over an increased determination by Taliban militants to spread out from Swat - and the apparently weak response up to now from Pakistan's civil and military outfits to block the Taliban's expansion.

In the past week however, the Pakistani military has launched attacks on areas near Swat, including the Dir and Buner districts.

(AP Photo/Channi Anand)

(Left: In Jammu, India Sunday, a cyclist looks on as Sikh activists burn tires and a Taliban effigy. The protesters allege that Sikh and Hindu families in Pakistan's northwestern frontier province and tribal areas have left their homes and moved to Punjab after being targeted by the Taliban for failing to pay a "religious tax.")

However, a senior western diplomat warned that the U.S. remains concerned over Pakistan's long-term future - an issue that is likely to be discussed when President Zardari meets with President Obama.

"Even if Pakistan shows determination right now to act, there is the question of a long-term commitment." said the diplomat. "The effort to beat back these people must be a long-term one."

But on the streets of Pakistan, opinion is divided between those who fear the advance of the Taliban and their reputation for harsh treatment of women (as well as of non-Muslims), as opposed to those who see their value in representing a growing anti-Western sentiment in the country.

Naeem Khan, an Islamabad fruit vendor, believes that the Taliban represent a force that could step up pressure on the country's rulers (owing to public support of the militants) to improve living conditions for those driven to abject poverty.

"This trend (of Taliban expansion) is an indication of how many Pakistanis support their cause," he said. "Whenever you have people driven to extreme poverty, there is always a chance that oppressed people will react in unpredictable ways."

[quapawsix]

then explain why members of the 7th Cav were awarded medals of honor for that campaign and why the Sioux Nation is pushing the government to strip the members of the 7th Cav of their medals

[hamiltongrad]

Tallibanians ! Get better PR. Like the PLO and HAMAS you are using home made rockets, and fighting a force with overpowering planes, bombs and such. A disproportionate use of FORCE by the PAKIS vs. you.

Cant you muster up a group of dead babies to show to the BBC or CNN ??

[hamiltongrad]

KARL , come on, Israel has a court system that is fair and equal under the law to all, sometimes to the aggravation of Israelis.

There is no death penalty in Israel, even for baby killers, crossing the border to terrorize.


NEW CBS IGNORES: PART 19
Oh, by the way, the "moderate" PLO on the WEST BANK just legally ordered the death sentence to a husband and wife for selling their land to a Jewish investor. DEATH PENALTY. What is noteworthy, that historically under Arafat, anyone doing this was just murdered by the mob rule , so called ARAB STREET. Moderate ABBAS, had it done legally. Tell me, where would you rather live ?? Are you able to dirrentiate between an imperfect Democracy ( Israel) trying to be fair and just, and those EVIL players we are fighting, HAMAS = HEZBOLLAH=Talliban = ABBAS et al = and others = NAZI

[thetrajectory]

the Pakistani government had initiated a policy of appeasing the Taliban and now have to the pay the price for it. Having gained the concession of implementing the Sharia, the taliban have decided to push the Government further into complete surrender. The argument that the Sharia was a response to local demands is acceptable to me, but my point is why was Sharia enforced only when the Taliban demanded it? If the Sharia had popular support the Governemnt should have implemented the traditional judicial system on its own accord rather than as a demand of the Taliban.
the government of Pakistan is too confused and lacks a coherent strategy for dealing with the Taliban.
http://thetrajectory.com

[hamiltongrad]

quakpa: What was done to the American Indigenous peoples was very wrong, and evil.

[primapatria]

... 7th Cav killed women and children and old people at wounded knee...
Posted by quapawsix at 4:45 AM : May 4, 2009

Well Custer wasn't hailed as a hero in any history books I've read - at least not for Wounded Knee ... would have been tough since Wounded Knee occurred in Dec 1890 and Custer died at the Little Big Horn in June 1876 ... Just for accuracy's sake the commander of the 7th Cavalry at the time of the Wounded Knee incident was COL James William Forsyth - who was tried and acquitted of slaughtering the innocent. Indian casualties totalled 150 dead, and 50 wounded. US Cavalry casualties were 25 dead, and 39 wounded ... and there is a heck of a difference between the 7th Cav and Islamic extremist organizations ... about the same gap as between a comprehensive understanding of history and a knee jerk post.

[jsf14]

Why aren't Muslims everywhere protesting LOUDLY denial of education for girls and women? Wasn't the Prophet Mohamed illiterate? And didn't his first wife, who encouraged him in his work, know how to read and write?

[quapawsix]

Hamas, Hezbolla and NASI
So what, Custer and the the 7th Cav killed women and children and old people at wounded knee and the battle of Wasatch river and was heralded as hero in the history books whats the difference.

[quapawsix]

are refusing to lay down their arms on the crazy pretense that keeping arms is a way of life for people of the area."

This is the truth, and someone thinks it's a crazy pretense, the reporter that wrote this is an Idiot and has no clue as to what has been happening in this Area for hundreds of years, guns are a way of life for theses people this NWO thing is a plan of a small group of evil people who are bent on enslaving the world.

[nim99]

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