SWAT UPDATE: SUFI MUHAMMAD'S PRESS CONFERENCE - QAZI JUDGES

C O N F I D E N T I A L PESHAWAR 000055


E.O. 12958: DECL: 3/18/2019
TAGS: PGOV PTER MOPS PK
SUBJECT: SWAT UPDATE: SUFI MUHAMMAD'S PRESS CONFERENCE - QAZI JUDGES
HEAR FIRST CASES

REF: A) PESHAWAR 52 B) PESHAWAR 51


CLASSIFIED BY: Lynne Tracy, Principal Officer, U.S. Consulate
Peshawar, Department of State.
REASON: 1.4 (d)


Summary
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1. (C) Tehrik Nifaz-i-Shariat Mohammadi (TNSM) chief, Sufi
Mohammad announced in a press conference March 16, the
(previous) judges should stop going to their offices as their
continued presence would be considered a violation of the peace
accord. Provincial authorities have stated the new Qazis may
begin to hear cases under the authority of the 1999 version of
the regulation. Some case decisions were announced March 17.
Although some schools have reopened, incidents of police
killings, property destruction and militant intimidation of the
population continue, and there are indicators that the militants
are regrouping. Meanwhile, the home and community of a key
Awami National Party (ANP) Provincial Assembly member are
apparently being targeted by militants without challenge by the
government -- a failure that will not go unnoticed by Swatis.
End Summary.

TNSM Chief Sufi Mohammad Gives Press Conference
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2. (C) Sufi said in a press conference March 16, the (previous)
judges should stop going to their offices as their continued
presence would be considered a violation of the peace accord.
He said that the provincial government had announced the Shari'a
courts were to start March 16, and thus the previous judges in
Malakand Division were to stop their proceedings. According to
press contacts, those judges without "proper Islamic training"
had stopped going to courts. Sufi also claimed he would
personally supervise and review the decisions made by the Qazis
(judges) and any judge not making decisions in conformity with
Shari'a law would be replaced.

President Zardari's Signature Required?
--------------


3. (C) Sufi asserted that there was no need for President
Zardari to sign the new Regulation as similar regulations had
been implemented in the region without presidential consent, the
Nizam-e-Adl Regulation 1999 was signed by Northwest Frontier
Province (NWFP) governor, and thus the newly installed Qazi
judges should begin to hear cases immediately (Ref. A-B).
(Note: The 1999 regulation, to which Sufi was likely referring,
was signed by the governor of the NWFP at the time LTG (Rtd.)
Arif Bangash but almost certainly with presidential consent.
Additional Secretary Shahzad Arbab, in the office of Secretary
General Salman Faruqi, told DCM and Poloff that implementation
of the Nizam-e-Adl without Zardari's signature is illegal and
open to court challenge. End note.)

Urdu and Pashtu Versions Of Peace Agreement Match?
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4. (C) Khalid Aziz, former NWFP Additional Chief Secretary, told
post that he had read two versions of the peace agreement, one
in Urdu and the other in Pashtu. There is at least one
important difference in the two versions. In the Pashtu
version, Shari'a law as defined by the Qazis is the law, while
in the Urdu version the GOP has the right of review.

Qazis Begin To Hear Cases
--------------


5. (C) Provincial authorities have stated the new Qazis may
begin to hear cases under the authority of the 1999 version of
the regulation with some case decisions announced March 17. The
initial cases concerned small claims or minor offenses. One
case concerned a debt of 34,000 rupees (USD 500). The Qazi
ruled that half would need to be paid immediately with the
remainder paid in monthly installments. Another concerned a
bicycle which was ordered returned to the original owner. In
these cases the parties (without objection) were not represented
by lawyers. Local observers state that no serious criminal
cases have been heard thus far. Neither have some of the more
severe punishments been meted out that are feared by local
lawyers in future decisions.

Peace Returned?
--------------


6. (C) Although some schools have reopened, most are boys
schools or for girls grade four and below according to NGO
workers living in Mingora and Bahrain. They report that most
parents are still afraid to send their girls to school based on
previous threats of local militants. One mother told an
expatriate contact that when she and her daughters went to a
market near Mingora on March 16, although wearing the full
covering of burqas, they were threatened by a local militant for
being outside their home. The militant asked them at knife
point who wanted to be beheaded first. Although he did not
carry out the threat, the women ran to their home immediately
and have not ventured out again.

Security Related Incidents
--------------


7. (C) Incidents with more tragic endings continue in Swat. On
March 13 houses which belonged to an ANP politician Muhammad
Afzal Khan were destroyed by militants near Mingora. Khan was
one of the only ANP politicians to be in Swat regularly during
the past year. He was not present at the residences during the
destruction and is believed to be unharmed. (Comment: Frontier
Corps Major General Tariq Khan told PO on March 18 that the
government's failure to back up one of its key supporters and
his community sent a terrible signal to Swatis. Khan, who
acknowledges that he sees Swat differently than much of the
senior Pakistani military establishment and provincial
government, expected the ceasefire to collapse in a few weeks.)


8. (C) A Pakistan People's Party (PPP) worker was killed by
suspected militants March 14, near Mingora and at least three
policemen were killed, including the Assistant Superintendent of
Police, March 18 during a militant attack on a police mobile
team in front of Chakdara University. Residents of Swat in
Mingora and Bahrain state that armed militant patrolling and
check points, while reduced, continue in urban areas and along
highways. They tell of militants boasting that the government
had "surrendered to their demands" and now they (militants) were
in charge.

Underground Bunkers and Recruiting
--------------


9. (C) According to one post contact, the mountain range in
northern Swat contained "sophisticated" underground bunkers four
to five stories deep which had been visited by foreigners during
the past several months with rocket-launchers and machine guns
cached in the area. A press contact visiting the Swat Valley
told post March 18 that he observed suspected taliban recruiting
boys and young men in market areas the previous day. The ACS
said that Punjabi fighters who have moved near Peshawar from
Swat were responsible for the increase in recent violence in and
near the provincial capital.

Comment
--------------


10. (C) Both sides seem willing to allow the court system to go
forward with different explanations concerning legitimacy. The
NWFP claims to use the 1999 regulation and Sufi claims the use
of the 2009 version. This may set the stage for difficulties in
the future.


11. (C) Recruitment of additional militants, the presence of
underground bunkers and cached weapons point to the militants
use of the peace agreement as an opportunity to rearm, regroup
and recruit - something many local watchers have been saying for
weeks.


TRACY