Pakistan denies ‘concession’ in deal with militants

[sabra]

Source: AFP

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan denied Tuesday making concessions to militants after signing a deal allowing them to impose Islamic law in an area where government troops have failed to put down a bloody insurgency.

The United States, which puts South Asia on the frontline of the “war on terror,” has branded extremists in northwest Pakistan a direct threat to the country, its neighbour Afghanistan, US security and other powers.

Analysts have derided the deal as a defeat that will embolden Islamists in the violent, nuclear-armed Muslim nation, but the government and pro-Taliban cleric Soofi Mohammad, who signed the deal, hailed it as a chance for peace.

Information Minister Sherry Rehman denied it was a “concession.”

“It is in no way a sign of the state’s weakness. The public will of the population of the Swat region is at the centre of all efforts and it should be taken into account while debating the merits of this agreement,” she said.


Read more: http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/international/2009/February/international_February1308.xml§ion=international

[truebrit71]

1. Riiiiiiiiiiight, caving to the Taleban's demands is not "concession"...

...I bet the check is in the mail too, right?

:eyes:

[ananda]

3. Ask the girls and women being sold into virtual slavery..

.. if it wasn't a concession.

[truebrit71]

4. No kidding...

Read 'The Forever War' by Dexter Filkins (sp) for an idea about how bad things can get..

[truebrit71]

5. or see this article posted on CNN..

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/02/17/pakistan.taliban/index.html

This does NOT bode well for Pakistan, the women that live there, and ultimately world safety...

The Taleban is hell-bent on getting their hands on Pakistan's nukes..and once they do...all bets are off...

[Coventina]

2. "It wasn't a concession - we just gave them what they wanted!"

"What could possibly be the harm in that?"

:shrug:

[Igel]

6. " public will of the population of the Swat region"

last year was to give a majority of the vote to a secular political party.

Ah, but that was done in the privacy of the voting booths, not with a Talib standing behind you or holding a gun to your son's head.

Tribalism. Can't live with it.

[ohio2007]

7. It was a "conditional surrender" with a time clause nt

[ohio2007]

8. Pakistan ; Woman And Sharia Law 2008. ( video prior to the 08 election)

A prophecy fulfilled one year later;
Pakistan February 2008.

Filmed shortly before the recent elections in Pakistan.


http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=2ee_1214485437

give them their own nation