Some Taliban getting disenchanted with Baitullah’s enterprise, Islam,Terrorism and Jihad, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam,Terrorism and Jihad

Some Taliban getting disenchanted with Baitullah’s enterprise

Editorial in the Daily Times, Lahore

June 10, 2009

In Bajaur, where the Tehreek-e Nifaz-e Shariat-e Muhammadi (TNSM) of Sufi Muhammad was adopted as the guiding light of a local faction, the Taliban are treating it in a manner that differs from past practice. On Monday they took 100 members of the TNSM hostage, including the local chief, after “differences between the Taliban and the TNSM intensified”. But one must realistically assess the growth of TNSM influence in Bajaur. The TNSM movement had affected Bajaur in the 1990s but its appeal was greatly increased only after the success of warlord Fazlullah in the adjacent Malakand region. Now, with the retreat of the Taliban, however, TNSM influence is being rolled back. The linkage with the TTP is therefore coming under pressure. Inside TNSM, too, the transition from acquiescing in the savagery of the Taliban to non-acceptance of the “un-Islamic” practice of killing Muslims is being completed. Now TNSM is becoming a problem for Baitullah’s warriors as a non-military adjunct whose leader Sufi Mohammad has considerably lost his charisma as the saintly symbol of revolt against the state of Pakistan. There are reports also that factions of the Taliban are refusing to fight against the army.

http://newageislam.com/some-taliban-getting-disenchanted-with-baitullah%E2%80%99s-enterprise---/islam,terrorism-and-jihad/d/1456

Pakistan: Unmaking of the State By Adil Zareef

The caretaker government led by former Chief Minister Shams ul Mulk had already prepared the blueprint of this deal with the establishment's man, Maulana Sufi Mohammad, who instigated the insurgency against the state for imposition of the Islamic system in 1994, and later on led thousands of gullible Pakhtuns to their deaths in Afghanistan in the wake of 9/11. He was not the only one who was indemnified for his crimes. Mullah Fazlullah, another shadowy character, who sprang into prominence last year after taking the entire Swat district hostage, also got official reprieve for his gross violations of human rights despite the fact that he had inflicted heavy losses on the provincial economy and

infrastructure. In fact, both men have been rewarded with this peace agreement.