Al Qaida Linked Terrorist Orders Ceasefire

Baitullah Mehsud has ordered his followers to a ceasefire with the Pakistani government while it strikes a peace deal with other groups in north western pakistan where the remnants of the taliban and al qaida are holed up.
So here we go again, our friend and ally is trying to stike up peace deals with our enemies. The last time our friends and allies did this, the taliban were able to regroup and increased their attacks in Afghanistan. Reuters

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - An al Qaeda-linked militant commander has ordered his followers to stop attacks in Pakistan after the new government began peace talks, a government official said on Thursday.

Pakistan's new government that emerged from a February general election has promised to pursue negotiations in a bid to end a tide of militant violence in which hundreds of people have been killed since the middle of last year.

But the prospect of peace pacts with militants based in lawless tribal areas along the Afghan border has raised concern as critics say deals only give militants the opportunity to re-group and intensify their attacks in Afghanistan.

....

The government said it was talking with elders of ethnic Pashtun tribes that inhabit the rugged northwest, not directly with militant commanders.

But with talks under way, Baitullah Mehsud, a Pashtun militant leader accused of organizing the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in December, has put out word to his followers to cease attacks in Pakistan.

"All members of Tehrik-e-Taliban are ordered by Baitullah Mehsud that a ban is imposed on provocative activities for the sake of peace," the group, the Movement of Taliban, said in a leaflet distributed in the South Waziristan region and nearby towns close to the Afghan border.

The group is an umbrella organization, formed last year, of various militant groups based in Pakistan's Pashtun border lands, and led by Mehsud.

A military spokesman declined to comment on the ceasefire or the talks, but he denied a militant claim that government troops had begun pulling back from positions in South Waziristan.

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