The new Pakistani government has wasted no time in kicking off negotiations with the Taliban. Just two months after taking office, the government has cut a deal with a radical Taliban group in the Malakand Division of the Northwest Frontier Province. This Monday, a peace deal was struck with the Movement for the Implementation of Mohammad’s Sharia Law, a group that sent more than 10,000 fighters to attack U.S. troops during the opening phase of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001 and 2002. The government, which had declared this Taliban group illegal, has openly negotiated with it and freed its leader, Sufi Mohmammed, who was captured while attempting to lead fighters into Afghanistan to attack U.S. forces. Yesterday, the government announced it was negotiating with none other than Baitullah Mehsud, the man behind the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Baitullah has also led a suicide and military campaign against the military and government over the past two years. Al Qaeda’s senior leadership is believed to shelter in South Waziristan, where Baitullah rules. Al Qaeda maintains terror camps in the region. The US State Department has weighed in on the negotiations. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher said the department is “supportive“” of the negotiations. “You have to talk to people,” said Boucher. “The Pakistani government is engaged in discussion designed to stop violence. It’s got to be done in a way that produces results, that reduces violence.” The Pakistani government cut similar deals with the Taliban in North and South Waziristan in 2006 and in Bajaur, Mohmand, and Swat in 2007. The Taliban consolidated control in these regions and expanded their power base into many settled districts in the Northwest Frontier Province. The Taliban never lived up to the terms of the agreements, instead they established Islamic emirates, enforced sharia law, and used their new safe havens to strike inside Pakistan and at Afghanistan, India, and the West.
