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Pak paid $ 6 mn to Taliban for Swat
ceasefire?
The Taliban
in Pakistan's restive Swat valley was paid $6 million in
compensation by the government as part of the deal for a
ceasefire with security forces for an indefinite period,
media reports said Tuesday.
Islamabad
signed a controversial deal with Maulana Sufi Mohammad
of the Tahrik-e-Nafiz Shariat Muhammadi (the Movement
for the Enforcement of Islamic Law) to enforce Islamic
law (Sharia) in Swat to restore peace in exchange for
the payment, a security official was quoted as saying.
The amount
paid through a back channel was compensation for those
who were killed during military operations and
compensation for the properties destroyed by the
security forces.
The reports
said all of Pakistan's tribal areas come under President
Asif Ali Zardari's jurisdiction and the amount was paid
from a special fund of the president. A special aid
package, including a donation from the U.S., was
designated for the region by the president's office and
distributed through the Governor's office in North West
Frontier Province (NWFP), the reports said.
The deal was
thrashed out after months of intense fighting in which
hundreds of civilians and militants were killed and
500,000 persons displaced.
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