TALIBAN TAKEOVER

by RAY FLEMING
WHILE American and NATO forces are trying to devise new strategies to bring an end to the Taliban influence in Afghanistan, a new Taliban mini-state has just been established fewer than 100 miles from Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. This development would be remarkable and worrying enough in itself but the fact that it has happened with the full support of the government of Pakistan makes it almost beyond belief. Yet two months ago Asif Ali Zardari, the elected president of Pakistan, reached an agreement with Taliban militants that they should be able to take over the administration of the Swat valley and impose Islamic Sharia law there. Two weeks ago the Pakistan parliament in a cross-party vote approved the government's action. The Taliban have had a considerable presence and influence in Swat for some time and the government's authority has often been challenged. Zardari's explanation for his agreement with the Taliban was that it would pacify the area; to many observers, however, it seemed like a show of weakness by Zardari that would lead to further demands by the militants - and so it proved last week when the Taliban extended their influence over the Buner district of one million people whose borders are within 60 miles of Islamabad. On Thursday in Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a Congressional committee that any further deterioration of security in Pakistan would pose “a mortal threat” to the security of the United States and the world. Watch this space.