Pakistan Caves to Taliban; Cracks Down in Islamabad

As Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf deploys tens of thousands of troops to the capital to put down protests, the government continues to cave into the demands of the Taliban in the Northwest Frontier Province. Over the weekend, the military released 25 Taliban fighters from custody in exchange for 213 soldiers captured during an ambush in South Waziristan. The government also dismissed terrorism related charges against seven of the Taliban fighters. Pakistan's Dawn reports:

Sources said that militants had brought 213 soldiers to Tiarza Khula, a remote area in South Waziristan, and handed them over to tribal elders. The military authorities brought the 25 militants in two helicopters to the brigade headquarters in Zari Noor colony near Wana. They were later taken to Tiarza Khula for the swap.

The sources said that seven militants had been released from the central jail in Dera Ismail Khan and 18 had been brought from Islamabad… Sources in Peshawar told Dawn that the NWFP government had also withdrawn seven terrorism cases pending before the anti-terrorism court in Dera Ismail Khan against some of the arrested militants.

Even worse than the prisoner swap, the government "agreed to implement the Sararogha peace accord in letter and spirit," according to Maulvi Mirajuddin, a Pakistani member of the assembly who brokered the deal as the head of the "peace committee."

The Sararogha peace accord was the agreement signed by both the government and Baitullah Mehsud, the powerful Taliban commander in South Waziristan, after the Pakistani military was fought to a standstill in South Waziristan. Amir Mir described the terms of the deal in 2005. Mir stated that the Sararogha accord did not require the Taliban to eject "foreign fighters"--al Qaeda--or halt attacks in Pakistan. All it required was that the Taliban stop attacking Pakistani soldiers.

Interestingly, the pact with Baitullah Mehsud did not forbid Abdullah Mehsud [who was killed in Baluchistan earlier this year], the most wanted fugitive from the Mehsud tribe, from attacking the US forces across the border in Afghanistan…

Interestingly, the Sararogha peace pact did not require that Abdullah surrender the foreign terrorists allegedly taking shelter with him; it simply bound him not to attack the Pakistan army and not give shelter to foreign terrorists. It did not bind him to lay down arms or not fight across the Durand Line, which demarcates the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The man swears allegiance to Mullah Mohammad Omar, the Taliban amir (chief); he moves around in a bullet-proof car and is followed by some 30 armed guards; he owns two castle-like houses in North and South Waziristan…

Interestingly, however, both peace accords make no mention of the Pakistan army's previous condition that the tribal militants must produce foreigners hiding in Waziristan and ensure their registration.

In an article yesterday on Musharraf's suspension of the constitution and declaration of a state of emergency, I noted the government was more likely to cut deals with the Taliban as Musharraf consolidates power in the capital. The release of 25 Taliban leaders and the reinstatement of the Sararogha accord in South Waziristan would seem to confirm our worst fears.