Taliban Fighters Declare Cease-Fire in Pakistan
By LAURA KING,
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — After weeks of escalating battles with government troops, Taliban terrorists yesterday declared a ceasefire — a move likely to frustrate American officials who have urged Pakistan to act decisively against Islamic radicals ensconced in the country's tribal belt.
The government of President Musharraf did not confirm that a truce had been struck, but Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz said the government was ready for "dialogue" with the militants. In the past, such announcements by the militants have signaled an imminent accord.
At the same time, Pakistan's military suffered a setback when three senior army generals, including the commander in restive South Waziristan, were killed in a helicopter crash blamed on technical problems.
Elsewhere, apparent election-related violence broke out in the country's largest city, Karachi. Gunmen shot dead a senior official of the Awami National Party, a secular group representing Pakistan's ethnic Pashtun minority. Hundreds of party supporters rioted in response to the shooting of party Vice President Fazal Rahman Kakakhel, torching vehicles and firing guns in the air.
The deadly attack and ensuing violence raised fears that the government could again postpone parliamentary elections that are to take place February 18.
That balloting was originally scheduled for January 8, but was put off six weeks after rioting broke out in the wake of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto's assassination on December 27. That street violence was also centered in Karachi.
The cease-fire by Taliban militants in the tribal areas was announced by a spokesman for Baitullah Mehsud, the newly minted commander of what is believed to be the largest concentration of pro-Taliban fighters inside Pakistan.
The spokesman, Maulvi Mohammed Umar, told journalists by telephone that the group had "decided to halt activities across the country for an indefinite period." However, he said the halt to fighting came at the initiative of the government.
Although the chief military spokesman, Major General Athar Abbas, said no cease-fire agreement had been reached, witnesses said army troops had begun dismantling checkpoints and pulling back from areas where fighting had raged in recent days.
