Posted on 04/19/2009 4:55:33 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A potentially troubling era dawned Sunday in Pakistan's Swat Valley, where a top Islamist militant leader, emboldened by a peace agreement with the federal government, laid out an ambitious plan to bring a "complete Islamic system" to the surrounding northwest region and the entire country.
Speaking to thousands of followers in an address aired live from Swat on national news channels, cleric Sufi Mohammed bluntly defied the constitution and federal judiciary, saying he would not allow any appeals to state courts under the Islamic Sharia law system that will now prevail there as a result of the peace accord signed by the president Tuesday.
"The Koran says that supporting an infidel system is a great sin," Mohammed said, referring to Pakistan's modern democratic institutions. He declared that in Swat, home to 1.5 million people, all "un-Islamic laws and customs will be abolished," and he suggested that the official imprimatur on the agreement would now pave the way for Sharia to be installed in other areas.
Mohammed's dramatic speech echoed a rousing sermon in Islamabad Friday by another radical cleric, Maulana Abdul Aziz, who appeared at the Red Mosque in the capital after nearly two years in detention and urged several thousand chanting followers to launch a crusade for Sharia law nationwide.
Together, these rallying cries seemed to create an arc of radical religious energy between the turbulent, Taliban-plagued northwest region and the increasingly vulnerable federal capital, less than 100 miles east. They also appeared to pose a direct, unprecedented religious challenge to modern state authority in the Muslim nation of 170 million.
"The government made a big mistake to give these guys legal cover for their agenda. Now they are going to be battle-ready to struggle for the soul of Pakistan," said Rifaat Hussain, a professor of security studies at
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Mohammed’s dramatic speech echoed a rousing sermon in Islamabad Friday by another radical cleric, Maulana Abdul Aziz, who appeared at the Red Mosque in the capital after nearly two years in detention and urged several thousand chanting followers to launch a crusade for Sharia law nationwide.
Just like Muslim funerals, we are missing targets of
opportunity every day.
We better whack these moles before the whole country truly goes under their control and with a nuclear weapon or two at their disposal, well they’ll get antsier..although I suspect Israel would settle that prior...
I expect India is keeping a close eye on them.
Yes, good point given they seceded from India 60 years ago with immense violence and bloodshed resulting in over a million deaths as a result. Lovely people, aren’t they?
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