Pro-Taliban cleric pulls out of peace deal

Pro-Taliban cleric Sufi Mohammad has announced he has pulled out of a peace deal in the violence-plagued Swat Valley, saying the government is not serious about implementing Islamic law, or sharia, in the region. Mohammad brokered the cease-fire in late February between the Pakistani government and his son-in-law, Maulana Fazlullah, who commands the Taliban in Swat Valley. With the deal, the area would come under sharia law, which — under the Taliban’s strict interpretation — would prevent women from even being seen in public without their husbands or fathers

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Why Pakistan Balks at Taking a Tougher Line on the Taliban

The key element in President Barack Obama’s Afghanistan strategy is getting Pakistan to fight the Taliban on its side of the border. But despite the Administration demanding a more concerted effort against militants on Pakistani soil as a condition for further aid to Pakistan’s military — and warnings by Centcom commander General David Petraeus and others that the Taliban threatens to destroy Pakistan as a state — many in Washington and beyond are skeptical that Pakistan will cooperate. U.S.

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Clinton backs talks with moderate Taliban

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday endorsed Afghan plans to hold reconciliation talks with moderate Taliban members. “We must support efforts by the government of Afghanistan to separate the extremists of al Qaeda and the Taliban from those who joined their ranks, not out of conviction but out of desperation,” Clinton said in an address laying out the new U.S. strategy for the region that President Obama announced last week

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Dozens dead in Pakistan mosque attack

A devastating suicide blast struck a mosque in the strife-torn tribal region of Pakistan Friday, killing at least 51 people and wounding more than 100 others, local officials said. The casualty toll was expected to rise in the blast, which occurred near the Afghanistan border in the Bigiari area of Jamrod sub-division in Khyber Agency.

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Zakaria: Obama impresses with first foreign policy moves

President Obama is halfway through his first 100 days in office and, although he has focused primarily on domestic policy, he also has made a number of foreign policy moves. NEW YORK (CNN) — President Obama is halfway through his first 100 days in office and, although he has focused primarily on domestic policy, he also has made a number of foreign policy moves. Obama selected Hillary Clinton as secretary of state and she has made several overseas trips.

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