MINGORA, Feb 21: The government announced on Saturday that it had reached a “permanent ceasefire” with the Taliban in Swat as part of an agreement brokered by the head of the defunct Tehrik Nifaz-i-Shariat Muhammadi, Maulana Sufi Mohammad.

However, the Tehrik-i-Taliban commander in Swat, Maulana Fazlullah, disputed the government’s claim, saying that a Taliban shoora would review the unilateral 10-day ceasefire after its expiry next week.

“We have heard that the government has announced a permanent ceasefire, but we have already announced a 10-day ceasefire and we will consider an extension when it ends,” Maulana Fazlullah told an illegal FM radio network. The Taliban’s ceasefire ends on Wednesday.

He said the ceasefire depended on the sincerity of the government in implementing the Nizam-i-Adl regulation.

“This is our constitutional right. We struggled and gave sacrifices to achieve our constitutional right,” the radical cleric said.

He asked other militants to sink their differences and work towards the success of the judicial system promised by the government.

“Today we are announcing a permanent ceasefire. The Taliban have endorsed the ceasefire,” Malakand Commissioner Syed Muhammad Javed told a news conference here.

He also announced the reopening of boys’ schools in the region and said that details were being worked out to allow reopening of girls’ schools as well.

Details are sketchy as to what was agreed upon between Sufi Muhammad and his son-in-law, Maulana Fazlullah, in their meeting on Friday.

But a knowledgeable source in Peshawar said the Taliban had agreed not to brandish weapons and to dismantle their checkposts.

“There will be no public display of weapons,” the source said.

“It is in our culture to keep weapons. You can’t ask a Pukhtun not to keep weapons,” he said.

He also said the militants wanted a general amnesty. The government has apparently agreed to this pre-condition to allow them to assimilate into the mainstream.

In addition, the government has agreed to compensate all those killed since the launch of the military operation in November 2007.

The decision will also apply to the Taliban, too. The Taliban have furnished a list of 2,000 militants who, they claimed, had been killed and whose heirs needed to be compensated. The federal government has released Rs450 million to pay compensation.

On its part the government has agreed to remove “unnecessary checkposts”, a key demand by the militants. The army and other security forces would, however, stay in Swat.

The security forces have reopened a road between Sarenai and Kabal after nearly seven months.

SCHOOL REBUILDING: A senior government official told Dawn in Peshawar it needed Rs751 million to rebuild over two hundred schools bombed or torched by Taliban, adding that the government was rushing tents to facilitate in reopening of schools on a temporary basis.

Schools in Swat were due to re-open on Feb 28 after winter vacations, but the Malakand commissioner said that they were being opened before schedule to make up for lost time.

The once tourist-hotspot has been ravaged by violence for nearly 18 months, bringing death and destruction to thousands of people.

The government estimates it would require Rs2.685 billion to rebuild the infrastructure.

The commissioner appealed to the internally displaced people to return homes.

The government has worked out a plan to help these IDPs get immediate relief and temporary shelter at their own places. Donor conferences have been planned to raise money to help these people start their lives anew, the senior official said.The Deputy Inspector General of Police, Malakand, Shaukat Hayat, asked all policemen who had abandoned their duties to return to work.

“All those who had gone on long leave, sought retirement or had deserted are asked to return to their duty immediately. They would be reinstated and given all perks and privileges,” Mr Hayat said.

Maulana Sufi Muhammad reached Mingora on Saturday after a whirlwind tour of the valley. He expressed hope that complete peace would soon be restored to the area.

Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti is expected to visit Mingora soon and a special task force headed by Afrasiab Khattak, the NWFP’s peace envoy, has been set up to monitor the implementation of the agreement, work out details of the Nizam-i-Adl regulation and oversee payment of compensation to victims.