Pakistan frees cleric who fought U.S. in Afghanistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistan's new government on Monday released the founder of an outlawed pro-Taliban militant group which has been involved in insurgency in both Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan, an official said.

Sufi Mohammad, a cleric and leader of the Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat Mohammadi (Movement for Implementation of Mohammad's Sharia Law), sent thousands of followers to fight U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan, who ousted the Taliban after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

"The government has released Sufi Mohammad. He has renounced violence and assured the government he will continue his movement through peaceful means," said Sardar Hussain Babak, minister of information in North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

Many of Mohammad's activists, most of whom are ethnic Pashtuns from northwest Pakistan, were killed in Afghanistan and Mohammad was arrested in 2002 when he was returning to Pakistan.

After his arrest and detention, his firebrand son-in-law, Fazlullah, took over as leader of the group and over the past year he has led an insurgency in the Swat Valley in NWFP.

Hundreds of people have been killed in fighting between the security forces and militants in Swat where Fazlullah tried to enforce Taliban-style Islamist rule. Fazlullah is still at large.

Mohammad, an elderly man with a long white beard, has been in poor health.

Analysts say his release appeared to be part of efforts by the new government to engage militants in dialogue amid widespread resentment of the previous government's support for the U.S.-led campaign against militancy.

Many Pakistanis blame President Pervez Musharraf's staunch support for the U.S.-led war on terrorism for provoking a wave of militant violence since the middle of last year.

The proposed talks with militants have raised questions about Pakistan's stand against militancy, especially with Musharraf increasingly isolated since his allies were defeated in a February general election.

(Writing by Zeeshan Haider; Editing by Robert Birsel and Jon Boyle)