June 18, 2008	Wednesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 13, 1429

MINGORA, June 17: The Swat chapter of the Tehrik-i-Taliban has warned the NWFP government of scrapping the May 21 peace agreement if it fails to implement all clauses of the deal within a week.

The decision was taken at a meeting the Tehrik’s Shura held at an undisclosed location on Tuesday. The meeting was attended by about 1,500 leaders and activists.

Talking to Dawn from an unspecified place, Haji Muslim Khan, a spokesman for hardline cleric Maulana Fazlullah, said the Shura expressed dissatisfaction over the pace of implementation of the peace accord between the NWFP government and the Swat Taliban.

He accused the government of using delaying tactics to gain time and warned of dire consequences in case the government did not implement all clauses of the accord.

He said Taliban had accepted the deal with an open heart and followed it in letter and in spirit. He accused the government of not showing commitment to ending the conflict.

After reaching the agreement, he said, Taliban strictly followed it and did not indulge in any anti-government activity.

The spokesman said the government had not yet fully implemented even a single clause of the deal. “In accordance with the accord, the government was required to release 75 Taliban prisoners within 15 days after signing of the agreement, but only 18 prisoners have been released after 25 days of hectic efforts.”

He said the government had not removed checkposts set up in various areas of the district. The government had also not fulfilled a commitment to start withdrawal of troops, he added.

Security forces were still stationed at Imam Dheri, the headquarters of Maulana Fazlullah.

The spokesman said that keeping in view the efforts made by the NWFP government during peace negotiations with Taliban, the Shura had decided to give the government one week to implement all clauses of the agreement. However, he added, after the expiry of the deadline, Taliban would consider the May 21 peace agreement as null and void and formulate a new line of action in consultation with the central leadership of the Tehrik-i-Taliban.