Provoked by a spate of suicide attacks, the Pakistan government on Monday scrapped a controversial peace deal signed last month with the Taliban that had been bitterly opposed by the United States but the Taliban militia said it was still holding the truce.
"The Swat agreement is scrapped as the militants have continued their attacks on security forces," Rahman Malik, advisor to the prime minister on interior affairs, told media-persons in Islamabad.
Under the agreement, militants had given a commitment to stop attacks on security forces while army was to be
gradually withdrawn from the North West Frontier Province region. The Taliban rejected Malik's statement saying as the deal was signed with the NWFP government, the Centre cannot scrap it and they were still holding to the truce.
Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said that some elements were trying to sabotage the peace process. The peace agreement was signed with the NWFP government and not with Rehman Malik, Khan said reacting to Malik's
announcement and especially his stand that there would be no talks with hardline militants.
Khan told Dawn News that the local Taliban want to resolve their issues with the provincial government.
The Awami National Party-led NWFP government too reacted angrily to Malik's comments, with senior minister and ANP leader Bashir Bilour saying Malik should have consulted provincial authorities before making such statements.
The ANP is part of the PPP-led ruling coalition at the Centre while PPP is its junior ally in the province. The local Taliban in Swat, NWFP too reaffirmed their commitment to the peace deal signed with the provincial agreement.
Swat is a tribal region that was a major tourist destination until militants led by Taliban commander Maulana Fazlullah launched a violent campaign to enforce the Shariat (Islamic law) last year.
Hundreds of militants were killed after the security forces launched an operation to dismantle Fazlullah's parallel
administration in about 60 villages. Malik's announcement came a day after Taliban militants killed four policemen in an ambush in Matani, near Peshawar, the capital of NWFP.
The Pakistani Taliban had yesterday accused the government of not honouring its commitments under the deal.
The new Pakistan People's Party-led federal government had said it would adopt a three-pronged strategy combining political dialogue, socio-economic development and military force to deal with militancy in the northwestern tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.
Islamabad is also reeling under a spate of bombings, including a suicide attack at the Danish embassy that left
eight people dead on June 2 and a bomb blast at an Italian restaurant on March 15 that killed a Turkish woman and wounded 10 foreigners, including four United States Federal Bureau of Investigation staff.