Pakistan sets up Islamic court for restive region

By Faris Ali

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Authorities in northwestern Pakistan battling a Taliban insurgency announced on Saturday the establishment of an Islamic court.

Dar-ul-Qaza, an Islamic appellate court, was set up for the Malakand division of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). NWFP authorities agreed in February to enforce Islamic sharia law there in the hope that militants would shun violence.

"Dar-ul-Qaza was the main demand and it has been met. Now there is no justification to take up arms," provincial information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain told a news conference.

"But if they take up arms even after this announcement, keep on challenging the government and try to run a parallel government, then the government will stop them at all costs."

For the fifth consecutive day, security forces battled for control of Buner, a strategic valley in the region.

Military officials say around 250 militants and 12 soldiers have been killed in the operation. There was no independent confirmation of the claim.

Taliban forays into Buner, just 100 km (60 miles) northwest of the capital Islamabad, had sent jitters across Pakistan.

It also unnerved the United States which considers the stability of the nuclear-armed nation as vital for Washington's efforts to defeat al Qaeda and stabilise Afghanistan.