Pak cleric demands Shariah courts in 2 weeks

MINGORA, Pakistan – A hard-line cleric sent by Pakistan to talk to the Taleban demanded Sunday that the government create Islamic courts in a northwest region by mid-March, a deadline that could undermine peace talks already alarming the West.
Pakistan agreed to establish Shariah courts to Sufi Muhammad, a pro-Taleban cleric whose son-in-law heads the Swat Taleban. Muhammad said Sunday he was unhappy with the government’s pace on fulfilling its promise.
“I’m not seeing any practical steps for the implementation of the peace agreement, except for ministers visiting Swat and uttering words,” the elderly cleric told reporters in the main Swat city of Mingora. He set a March 15 deadline for the Shariah courts to start running and said all other cases being held in regular courts should be stopped immediately. Muhammad also said that the Taleban and the government should release each other’s prisoners by the same date and that both sides should immediately abide by an agreement that includes no public displays of weapons. He said that if the courts deadline was not met, his followers would stage peaceful protests in Swat and surrounding areas.
On Sunday two soldiers were wounded when their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb in Kabal district of Swat, security officials said - the first incident since ceasefire announcement. In another incident suspected Taleban militants kidnapped a paramilitary officer and give bodyguards as they were traveling to Mingora when their vehicle was stopped at a checkpoint in the Qamber area.
US missile strike kills 8
At least eight militants were killed Sunday in a suspected US missile strike which destroyed a Taleban hide-out in northwest Pakistan, security officials said.
The compound was in an area controlled by militant commander Baitullah Mehsud head of the Tehreek-e-Taleban Pakistan (TTP). Mehsud is Pakistan’s most wanted militant, accused of plotting the 2007 assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. –Agencies
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