Swat peace deal ‘dead’ : Holbrooke

September 20th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistani Taliban commander Sher Mohammad Qasab, who carried a Rs.10 million bounty and was arrested from the Swat Valley, has died, authorities said Sunday. Qasab was critically injured during the Swat operation and he succumbed to his injuries, Geo TV reported.

August 18th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The US Special Envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke has said that Washington is sure about the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud's death because the chieftain has not appeared over television or radio to prove his well-being. "The reason it's clear he's dead is that if he weren't dead, he'd be giving TV and radio interviews to prove he's not dead," Holbrooke told CNN.

August 16th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - US Special Envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke has said Washington's attempt to distance itself from former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would hamper US interests, as the PML-N chief is a famous leader of the country. "Nawaz Sharif is a popular leader and his party is ruling the largest province of Punjab.

August 16th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - U.S.President Barack Obama's Special Envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke began an official visit to Pakistan on Sunday but heavy rain forced him to postpone a trip to the northwestern Swat Valley. A US Embassy official, speaking on condition of anonymity, revealed this today, even as hundreds of thousands of refugees continue to return to the valley after the military declared that it was free of Taliban control.

July 30th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Raising questions over the success of the Swat military offensive, US Special Envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke has said it is unclear whether the Taliban has really been hit hard in the operation. Talking to media persons after returning from his visit to Pakistan and Afghanistan here, Holbrooke said Washington is yet to ascertain whether scores of Taliban insurgents are actually being killed, as claimed by the Pakistan Army, or have they just scattered away only to recoil later.

July 22nd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The United States may ask Pakistan to initiate a full-fledged military operation in South Waziristan targeting the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Baitullah Mehsud during the US Special Envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke's visit to the country. Holbrooke, who arrived here on Tuesday on a three-day visit, may demand more commitment from Pakistan in South Waziristan, diplomatic sources said.

June 29th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The US special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, has said that it is too soon for Pakistan to declare victory in the Swat Valley, where the Army has purportedly put the Taliban insurgents on the back foot. Holbrooke, attending a G8 conference on stabilizing Pakistan and Afghanistan in Italy, said in an interview that it was too early for Pakistan to announce victory in Swat.

June 5th, 2009 KARACHI - US Special Envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, has said that Geo TV should ensure coverage of what the US is doing for Pakistan. Holbrooke said: "Geo has broadcast a number of anti-US reports, now you (media) should make people aware of the fact that the US is standing by Pakistan." He further said the US is committed to provide every possible help to the affected people of the Swat Valley displaced due to the ongoing military operation.

June 3rd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - America's top trouble shooter for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke arrived here Wednesday on a three-day visit to study the military's anti-Taliban operations in the country's restive northwest and to assess the needs of the millions of people who have been displaced by the fighting. Soon after his arrival here, Holbrooke went into a meeting with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.

May 11th, 2009 LAHORE - Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) chief Sufi Muhammad, who was released from prison to talk peace and able to convince the insurgents to lay down their weapons, still backs the Taliban. The ceasefire deal negotiated by Sufi with the NWFP Government in the Swat valley lies in tatters as the Taliban and the army square off amid accusations of betrayal from both sides.

May 2nd, 2009 LAHORE - A controversial deal with the Taliban in Pakistan's restive northwest would be reviewed if the militants don't live up to their end of the bargain and peace doesn't return to the area, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said Saturday. 'If agreement is not honoured by the other side and peace remains elusive, we would revisit and review the deal,' Gilani told reporters here.

May 1st, 2009 ISLAMABAD - A senior US Republican Senator Kit Bond has criticized the Pakistan Government over the Swat peace deal. Bond said such deals have failed to yield desired results in the past, and are bound to fall short of expectations.

April 30th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Taliban has said that the military operation in Buner is an attempt by the Pakistan government to pacify the United States. Spokesman of the Taliban's Swat chapter Muslim Khan said the Taliban would not retaliate to the ongoing military offensive, and it would abide by the peace accord it has inked with the provincial government.

April 22nd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - NWFP Governor Owais Ghani has briefed foreign diplomats at the Foreign Office on the deal with militants in Swat. "The problem [afflicting the region] lies in Afghanistan and unless you settle the issue there, it will be difficult to create peace in Swat and other border regions of Pakistan," Ghani said.

April 20th, 2009 LAHORE - The US Special Envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke has said that there is an increased risk of Islamabad being affected by the Swat deal inked between the Taliban and the government of Pakistan. "You cannot deal with these people by giving away territory.