Around the World: Pakistan

Cleric, Taliban talk peace

A hardline cleric sought yesterday to persuade the Taliban to disarm under a pact with Pakistan's government that has been criticized as giving in to Islamist militants ravaging the country's northwest, a militant spokesman said.

Sufi Muhammad promised to use his influence to push the Taliban in the former tourist resort of Swat to stop fighting in exchange for a public vow by the government to impose Islamic law in the region, where a brutal insurgency has killed hundreds and sent up to one third of the area's 1.5 million people fleeing.