Bismillah Al-Rahman Al-Raheem

Chinwag

The deal between the Pakistani government and the Swat Valley armed militia

After the Pakistani government had consented to grant the Swat District in the Malakand Province the appropriate competencies to implement Islamic Shari’ah and after they had assumed the practical arrangements to execute this agreement, some observers ascribed this to the guidelines of American and British officials who had made a distinction between the moderates and the extremists of the Taliban Movement, in the hope of holding talks and a dialogue with the moderates, and isolating and fighting the extremists. What is remarkable is the squabble-free response of the Pakistani government to those guidelines, which could not be envisaged as useful to the apparent aim of what is referred to as the Afghan crisis. The US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates said upon the signing of the deal: