Islamabad: Pakistani authorities on Thursday extended by a month the house arrest of radical cleric Sufi Muhammad, who had brokered the now-defunct controversial peace deal between security forces and the Taliban in the restive Swat valley.
The decision to extend the detention of Sufi Muhammad, the chief of banned Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariah Muhammadi, was made on the basis of a police report, Peshawar's district administration chief, Sahibzada Muhammad Anees, told reporters.
Sufi Muhammad, who is the father-in-law of Maulana Fazlullah, the commander of the Taliban in Swat, was arrested along with his three sons in Peshawar on July 26.
The sons were released on the orders of the Peshawar High Court but they were re-arrested by police from Swat.
Earlier this year, Sufi Muhammad had brokered a controversial peace deal in Swat that emboldened the Taliban to extend their influence to districts located just 100 kms from the federal capital Islamabad. Following this, the deal collapsed and the army launched an operation against the militants in May.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, October 22, 2009, 21:22