Taliban issues ultimatum to Pakistan government

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Islamabad: The Taliban group led by Baitullah Mehsud, blamed by the Pakistan government for Benazir Bhutto's assassination, has warned that it will carry out attacks across the country if the military is not withdrawn from the restive north-western Swat valley in two days.

The Tehrik Taliban-e-Pakistan, which was formed in December with Mehsud as its commander, has given the government two days to end military operations at Swat in the North West Frontier Province and pull out all security forces from the area.

It warned that it would "expand its actions from Waziristan to Kohistan and settled districts" if its demand is not met.

Maulvi Muhammad Omar, a spokesman for the group, told the Dawn newspaper by telephone yesterday that an earlier deadline for withdrawing troops had lapsed in December, but the militants had not resumed their activities because the nation was mourning the killing of Benazir.

"Now we extend the deadline for two days and ask the government to withdraw troops and halt the operation in Swat. Otherwise, we will attack the government everywhere and it will be an all-out war," he warned.

The Taliban and Mehsud have denied involvement in the attack on Benazir in Rawalpindi on December 27. The government blamed Mehsud for masterminding the suicide strike on Benazir

and other political leaders.

In his address to the nation yesterday, President Pervez Musharraf blamed a series of suicide bombings across the country on Mehsud and Maulana Fazlullah, a pro-Taliban cleric from Swat, and their militants.