Fear and brutality inside the fiefdom of Islamist shock jock
http://www.guardian.co.uk/pakistan/Story/0,,2205386,00.html Gen Musharraf used the violent turmoil in the Swat valley as a reason for a state of emergency. Declan Walsh reports from Iman Dheri, on the frontline in Pakistan's war on Islamist extremism Monday November 5, 2007 <http://www.guardian.co.uk/> The Guardian The tourist brochures call it the Switzerland of south Asia - a mountain idyll of rushing turquoise rivers, snow-dusted peaks and Pakistan's sole ski piste. But now the Swat valley in northern Pakistan has a dark new reputation, as the frontline in the country's faltering war on Islamist extremism. On Saturday General Pervez Musharraf cited surging violence in Swat - including suicide bombings, beheadings and kidnappings - as a justification for the imposition of emergency rule. His security forces are battling an Islamist militia led by Maulana Fazlullah, a radical cleric with a flair for theatrics who wants to turn Swat into a mini Islamic fiefdom. The fight has been short but brutal, leaving hundreds dead. Government soldiers have rained shellfire on militant positions and blasted hilltop bunkers with helicopter gunships. The militants have captured territory and humiliated soldiers. A suicide fireball engulfed a police truck, killing 21, while four security officials were beheaded, and their remains paraded through a village as "American spies". The rebellion is Pakistan's first big conflict with Islamists outside the tribal belt and underscores General Musharraf's failure to rein in extremists despite the deployment of 100,000 troops and billions of pounds in western, mostly American, aid. On Saturday militants raised a jihadist flag over a police station and released 48 government soldiers who had apparently surrendered without a fight. "We only want Islamic law but the government will not allow us," a militant spokesman, Sirajuddin, told the Guardian a few days earlier at their headquarters in Imam Dheri, as a gunship buzzed overhead. "So the only way is jihad." "Swat is a real shock," said Dr Hasan Askari Rizvi, a defence analyst. "This is a tourist centre that used to be linked to the rest of Pakistan. If it can happen there, it can spread to other areas." The rise of Fazlullah speaks volumes about why Pakistan is getting a reputation as one of the world's most volatile countries. Fazlullah, a 30-something former madrasa student, became popular as an Islamist shock jock. Using an FM radio station broadcasting across the Swat Valley, the cleric railed against western "evils" such as polio vaccinations - a ploy to render Muslims impotent, he claimed - and female education. Helpless Then he deployed his "Shaheen" fighters to the streets of Swat, where they set fire to shops selling western music and Indian films, thrashed barbers who shaved men's beards and drilled holes into a 1,300-year-old Buddhist carving. Local authorities appeared helpless to stop the fighters, even when they took to directing traffic in the main town, Mingora. Now half a dozen girls' schools have closed, and a drive sponsored by the World Health Organisation to inoculate 3,500 children against polio has been suspended. During a lull in fighting last week the Guardian slipped into Fazlullah's newly formed "Islamic emirate" - a string of 59 hamlets along the western bank of the river Swat. Lanky young fighters with shoulder-length hair, curly beards and AK-47s manned makeshift checkpoints along the main road. Behind a maze of apricot orchards and fields was Imam Dheri, the riverside village where Fazlullah launched his burgeoning empire. Across the river in Mingora, Frontier Corps soldiers watched warily from hilltop bunkers. Fazlullah was absent but Sirajuddin gave a quick tour of nearby houses pockmarked by the shelling. "You see, this is what our government is doing," he said. The Islamists would keep fighting until sharia law was imposed on Swat. "The political parties cannot bring an Islamic system. This is not just our demand, it is the demand of the nation." Fazlullah's vigilantism has been helped by the ambivalence of local and provincial authorities. Two weeks ago, just before the military operation, the top local administrator was replaced after accusations that he secretly helped the militants. The religious parties that rule North-West Frontier province have been reluctant to confront him. "Fazlullah is a sincere and dedicated leader. He just suffers from bad advice," said Rahat Hussain, a senator of the Jamaat Ulema Islami, a party Gen Musharraf helped to bring to power in 2002. Fazlullah's drive to recruit Shaheen fighters - now estimated at 4,500 - was helped by unemployment and the government's failure to address historical grievances. Many Swat residents have never been happy with the British-style Pakistani justice system which they consider slow, expensive and corrupt, and prefer sharia law. Before the fighting thousands flocked to Fazlullah's Friday sermons in Imam Dheri. But the extent of his support is difficult to gauge. The fighting has forced hundreds of families to flee their homes. One refugee from Matta, a Fazlullah stronghold, estimated that only 25% of people supported him. "But due to fear, you cannot say a word against him," said the man, who spoke anonymously. Revolt The Swat revolt also has al-Qaida links. Persistent reports of fighters from Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Waziristan among his ranks suggest the battle may be part of a wider struggle by extremist forces to destabilise northern Pakistan. The outcome has implications for Nato forces in Afghanistan as well as for the wider fight against global militancy. Islamists convicted of plotting to blow up British nightclubs and shopping centres last April allegedly received explosives training at a mountain camp close to Swat. Fazlullah's lieutenants deny outsiders are involved. "We have nobody from outside our own villages - absolutely no foreigners," said Maulana Muhammad Rahim. Across the valley in Mingora, the hotels are empty and the ski slope is closed. "Normally this is the honeymoon season," said Zahid Khan, head of the local hoteliers association. "But why would anyone want to come here now?" (F)AIR USE NOTICE: All original content and/or articles and graphics in this message are copyrighted, unless specifically noted otherwise. All rights to these copyrighted items are reserved. 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