Taliban to withdraw from Pakistan's Buner: spokesman

Taliban Shift Forces, but Keep Hold on Pakistan Valley

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Some Taliban pulled back from a key district not far from the capital on Friday, but remained in control of the area, as the military defended its response, saying it was “determined to root out the menace of terrorism.”

The statement issued by the Pakistani military also condemned the criticism of the army by “outside powers” and called its decision not to intervene as Taliban insurgents advanced from the Swat Valley to Buner, just 70 miles from the capital, an “operational pause” intended to give reconciliation a chance.


snip

On Friday, local political leaders in Buner, home to about one million people, met with Sufi Mohamed, the Taliban leader who negotiated a February truce in Swat, and Mohamed Javed, the commissioner of Malakand, whose authority extends over both Swat and Buner, local residents reported.

snip

After the talks, a convoy of Taliban vehicles left Buner, but Amir Zeb Bacha, the head of the Buner chapter of the Pakistan International Human Rights Organization, called the withdrawal “a tactical show.”

The militants remained in control, according to a Taliban fighter reached by telephone and local residents. “They will come back when they want,”
Mr. Bacha said. “They are in the mountains where they have made bunkers.”


snip


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/25/world/asia/25pstan.html?_r=2

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - ‘I have resigned. I will never go to my job as I don’t want my parents to be sent my body,’ said a woman in a northwest Pakistan district from which the Taliban claimed to have withdrawn.

The woman, who called herself only Hafsa, said she worked for a charity until the Taliban advanced into Buner, just 100 kilometres (62 miles) from Islamabad, from the neighbouring district of Swat, which was torn apart by a nearly two-year Islamist insurgency.

Fear and uncertainty reigned in Buner on Saturday despite what the hardline movement trumpeted as a withdrawal to Swat—just the other side of the mountains—to shore up a deal to enforce Islamic law there.

snip



‘Now they have left but our office is still locked and we will not resume duty until authorities provide us security,’ he said.

A Taliban commander said after his men entered Buner that they would set up strict Islamic sharia courts, as they have done in Swat.

Both Buner and Swat fall within Malakand, a district of some three million people in North West Frontier Province where President Asif Ali Zardari has ratified an agreement to enforce sharia law in exchange for peace.

‘Female staff in my office as well as schools and colleges did not turn up today,’ said deputy district education officer, Mohammad Sahib.

Some people were grateful that the threat of a military operation to flush out the Taliban had been averted—at least for now.

snip

People in Buner said they hoped things would now improve but were concerned about the lingering presence of local Taliban.

‘We are hopeful that the situation will now return to normal after the Taliban withdrawal,’ Jehanzeb Khan, a local lawyer said.

‘The Taliban from Swat have left and there is no patrolling going on but we still have local Taliban members from Buner present,’ he added.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/international/2009/April/international_April2016.xml§ion=international&col=

snip
On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that “the Pakistani government is basically abdicating to the Taliban,” but the spokesman, Haji Muslim Khan, said that


Taliban anger was partly caused by the presence of female American soldiers in the region. Mr. Khan said that Pakistan’s prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, “should think about Western white women who take up arms and come from 20,000 miles away to fight against us here.”

snip

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/24/video-of-pakistani-taliban-in-buner-and-swat/

MINGORA: Militants have stopped a security forces convoy near Qamber, a Taliban stronghold, from moving onward to Mingora and also occupied the residence PML-N central leader Sar Anjam Khan in Bahrain on Saturday morning.

Sources said the militants took positions along main GT road after hearing about the movement of a convoy of security forces. They stopped the convoy from moving towards district headquarter Mingora, saying the move is a violation of the Swat peace accord.
Commissioner Malakand Mohmmad Javed confirmed the report, saying the convoy returned back. Sources, however, said the military authorities have taken strong note of the militant action and warned that the security forces would take stern action in case the way of troops was blocked or arms were displayed along the roads in future.


http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/14-taliban-halt-military-convoy-from-entering-swat-zj-04

Pakistan Fires Key Architect of Swat Peace Deal

snip

Mr. Javed, a career civil servant who keeps a long a beard and is known for his strict religious views, was appointed last year as the commissioner of Malakand, a region that includes Swat and Buner

snip
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3847187#3848894