Pakistan set to enforce Islamic law in NW areas
www.chinaview.cn 2009-04-15 20:40:22
ISLAMABAD, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Northwestern Pakistan's provincial government on Wednesday issued a formal notification on enforcing Sharia, or Islamic law, in Malakand and Kohistan divisions including the restive Swat valley.
A pact-signing ceremony was held in Peshawar, capital of North West Frontier Province (NWFP), at which Governor Owais Ahmed Ghaniand Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti signed the Sharia bill called Nizam-e-Adl regulation-2009.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has signed the regulation introducing Sharia into the northwestern areas, including Swat valley, on Monday night after passage of a resolution by the parliament.
Swat has been one of Pakistan's main tourist destinations since2007, when the security forces began to fight against local Taliban in the region.
Sufi Muhammad, founding chief of the banned group Tehrik-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM), and the NWFP government reached an agreement in February that Islamic law would be enforced in Swat in return for peace.
But the United States, anti-terrorism ally of Pakistan, has expressed concerns about the enforcement of Islamic law in the region.
"We are disappointed the parliament did not take into account legitimate concerns around civil and human rights," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs was quoted as saying in a statement.
ISLAMABAD, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Northwestern Pakistan's provincial government on Wednesday issued a formal notification on enforcing Sharia, or Islamic law, in Malakand and Kohistan divisions including the restive Swat valley.
A pact-signing ceremony was held in Peshawar, capital of North West Frontier Province (NWFP), at which Governor Owais Ahmed Ghaniand Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti signed the Sharia bill called Nizam-e-Adl regulation-2009.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has signed the regulation introducing Sharia into the northwestern areas, including Swat valley, on Monday night after passage of a resolution by the parliament.
Swat has been one of Pakistan's main tourist destinations since2007, when the security forces began to fight against local Taliban in the region.
Sufi Muhammad, founding chief of the banned group Tehrik-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM), and the NWFP government reached an agreement in February that Islamic law would be enforced in Swat in return for peace.
But the United States, anti-terrorism ally of Pakistan, has expressed concerns about the enforcement of Islamic law in the region.
"We are disappointed the parliament did not take into account legitimate concerns around civil and human rights," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs was quoted as saying in a statement.
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