Militant commander scraps peace agreement with Pak Govt

Baitullah Mehsud, a militant commander leading the insurgency in South Waziristan has announced the scrapping of peace agreement with the Pakistan Government.

Peshawar, Aug 19 : Baitullah Mehsud, a militant commander leading the insurgency in South Waziristan has announced the scrapping of peace agreement with the Pakistan Government.

"It has been the government's policy to force mujahideens to scrap the peace deal. We tried our best to keep the agreement intact," Zulfiqar Mehsud, spokesman for the Taliban commander, said.

"The government violated the agreement, carried out air strikes and moved troops into our area," the Dawn quoted him, as saying.

However, a senior government official said a jirga that met militants had negotiated a ceasefire, which would lead to cessation of hostilities.

Senator Saleh Shah from South Waziristan also said the agreement was intact, and added that the statement of the militants' spokesman had been misinterpreted by the media.

The Pakistan Government had signed a six-point peace agreement with Baitullah in February 2005, under which he had agreed not to protect and assist foreign militants, target government functionaries and installations or block work on development projects.

In return, the government had granted amnesty to the commander and his supporters.

Militants in North Waziristan have already pulled out of a peace agreement they had signed with the government in September last year.

ANI