ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, March 4 (UPI) -- Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari says the West is mischaracterizing a cease-fire agreement reached with militants in the country's restive Swat Valley.
Writing Wednesday in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece, Zardari asserted he would never negotiate with terrorists and claims the cease-fire deal has been struck with moderate Islamic clerics who have been tasked with countering the influence of Taliban extremists, CNN reported.
"We have not and will not negotiate with extremist Taliban and terrorists," Zardari wrote. "The clerics with whom we have engaged are not Taliban. Indeed, in our dialogue we'd made it clear that it is their responsibility to rein in and neutralize Taliban and other insurgents."
Many Western observers have criticized the permanent ceasefire as appeasement of terrorists. CNN said the deal was brokered by Sufi Mohammed, a pro-Taliban cleric who had once been arrested for ordering fighters to attack the United States in Afghanistan.
The cease-fire agreement also imposes Islamic law, or Shariah, in the northwestern Pakistan region, the U.S. broadcaster reported.
