ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A provincial government official in the disputed area of Swat announced details of what he called a “permanent cease-fire” with the Taliban on Saturday.
But hours later, the most powerful Taliban leader in Swat, Maulana Fazlullah, said over his FM radio station that he had only agreed to a 10-day truce and would consider an extension at the end of that period.
The different positions suggested that the truce agreed to five days ago by the national government, under which the army would stop hostilities in exchange for being allowed to put in place a system of Islamic law, remained in flux.
That deal was widely criticized by Western governments and moderate Pakistanis who described it as a government surrender to ruthless militants. Now it appears that Mr. Fazlullah, whose forces have swept through the territory in the past six months, has not signed on to it.
The national government said Monday that it had agreed to a deal with another Taliban leader, Maulana Sufi Muhammad, who lacks the powerful forces of Mr. Fazlullah, his son-in-law. Mr. Fazlullah has the backing of the umbrella group of Pakistani Taliban, Tehrik-e-Taliban.
Mr. Muhammad has been holding talks with Mr. Fazlullah in the last two days, apparently an effort to persuade him to go along with the government deal.
At a news conference on Saturday, Syed Muhammad Javed, a newly appointed commissioner for Malakand, the region that includes the Swat Valley, said: “Today, we are announcing a permanent cease-fire. The Taliban have also endorsed the cease-fire.”
But Muslim Khan, a spokesman for the Swat Taliban, told The Associated Press that the group was not ready to announce an agreement. “We do welcome the government’s announcement of the permanent cease-fire, but as far as the cease-fire from our side, we can announce it on our own, and we will do that ourselves,” he said.
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