Pakistan: Leading Cleric Pulls Out of Peace Deal

Prominent cleric Sufi Mohammad (pictured) has announced that he is withdrawing from a peace deal, arranged in late February, between local groups and the Government in the Swat Valley in the Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan.

Mohammad brokered the deal between Islamabad and his son-in-law, Maulana Fazlullah, the commander of Taliban forces in the Valley. The agreement received much attention, because it allowed sharia law, and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari pulled back from signing it.

Mohammad blamed Zardari for the breakdown of the deal and warned that the Pakistani Government will be responsible for any bloodshed. The province's political leadership is sending a delegation to hear Mohammad's complaints.

If the deal does break down, it poses another challenge to the American strategy against the "safe havens" in northwest Pakistan. A rival "Taliban" group under Baitullah Mehsud has stepped up its attacks against Pakistani targets, and Fazlullah has warned that his supporters will challenge any US or Pakistani military operations.