Deal with The Devil :Sharia bill signed

After months of wavering, the Pakistani government has finally approved a law that will enforce the Sharia justice system in its troubled north-western district of Swat.

But the contours of that law are still not clear, sparking fears that differences over the details may yet again derail peace in this once popular tourist resort.

The government seems to think that as the Taleban's demand of Sharia law has been met, the militants will lay down their arms and go home.

The Taleban, on the contrary, seem to believe that they have a peace time job of guiding society along the "right path", if not to conquer new frontiers.

Maulana Sufi Mohammad, the local cleric who helped negotiate peace between the government and the militants, apparently has little leverage with either party and has kept his own understanding of what form the law should take largely to himself.

BUNER: Three police officials, two Lashkar (militia) men and sixteen militants were killed in overnight clash between Taliban and Qaumi Lashkar in Buner district, police and residents said on Tuesday.

The fierce fighting erupted on Monday night when the Qaumi Lashkar and local police force made efforts to enter the Gokand valley via Rajagaly Kandow from Pir Baba side to flush out Taliban militants who had sneaked in to the district on Saturday from neighbouring Swat.

The militants had earlier been asked to leave but had refused and took positions in the Gokand valley.  The local jirga elders and district administration officials held several rounds of talks with the Taliban through a reconciliatory committee which included leaders of Tehrik Nefaz-i-Shariat Muhammadi (TNSM) in a bid to convince them to leave the area with an offer of safe passage. But the militant commander was of the view that Tehrik Taliban high command had ordered their Tashkeel (stay) in the area and they would leave after holding a peace march and visiting the families of six killed Taliban in Shalbandi.

Sources told Dawn that Taliban militants had dispatched sixteen bodies and shifted thirteen wounded colleagues to Swat via Kalil Kandow early on Tuesday morning after the shootout. However, militants and their local supporters were tightlipped about the casualties on their side.

Following the battle, the Taliban took possession of the bodies of two Lashkar men and three police constables and even opened fire on Lashkar men when they tried to rescue the bodies early on Tuesday morning. Source:Dawn.com