Taliban militants in northwest Pakistan say they are considering
extending their cease-fire, but deny they reached a permanent agreement
as local government officials had claimed.
The head of the
hardline group of Taliban in Swat valley said Saturday that his group
is reviewing its existing 10-day cease-fire. Maulana Fazlullah, said in
a radio announcement that they will consider extending it when it
expires next week.
Earlier, Syed Muhammed Javed, the
commissioner of the Malakand region, which includes Swat, said the
militants had agreed to a permanent cease-fire.
Fazlullah's
father-in-law, Sufi Muhammad, who leads a separate Islamist group in
Swat, reached an agreement last week with local officials to impose
Islamic law (Sharia) in the region if his militants lay down their arms.
Taliban
officials say Muhammad met with Fazlullah earlier this week to
negotiate an end to fighting between militants and the government.
Militants
from various factions operate in northwestern Pakistan. Some use the
territory to launch attacks in neighboring Afghanistan, targeting local
and international forces.
The United States and NATO have both
expressed concern that the deal reached with militants last week could
provide a safe haven for extremists in the already volatile region.
Meanwhile,
officials say a roadside bomb exploded near a fuel tanker on a
Pakistani supply line in the Khyber district used by NATO forces in
Afghanistan. One person was killed, and two others wounded in the
blast.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
