Earlier today, Pakistan's prime minister said the situation in Swat is "returning to normal," despite the fact that four members of the security forces were kidnapped, and the cleric that the government negotiated the peace deal with called the Pakistani government illegitimate and advocated for Islamic law nation wide.
As if on cue, the Taliban gave Prime Minister Gilani another reason to reconsider his statement. Muslim Khan, the spokesman for the Swat Taliban, invited Osama bin Laden and others terrorists to shelter in Swat. "Osama can come here. Sure, like a brother they can stay anywhere they want," he said. "Yes, we will help them and protect them."
Khan also admitted to an alliance with other international and Pakistani terror groups:
The Taliban spokesman counted among his allies several groups on U.N. and U.S. terrorist lists: Lashkar-e-Taiba, blamed for last year's bloody siege in Mumbai, India; Jaish-e-Mohammed, which trains fighters in Pakistan's populous Punjab province; the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan; al-Qaida, and the Taliban of Afghanistan.
"If we need, we can call them and if they need, they can call us," Khan said.
The Pakistani government's reaction was predictable: shock and outrage, and even an empty threat:
"We would have to go for the military operation [if Osama shelters in Swat]. We would have to apply force again," said Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira. "We simply condemn this. We are fighting this war against al-Qaida and the Taliban."
The Pakistani Taliban have been clear about their loyalties to the Taliban and al Qaeda. The government knows exactly who they are dealing with, so the charge that they are fighting the Taliban in Swat rings hollow.
