Opposition grows to Pakistan's Taliban pact - washingtonpost.com: "...fter failing to quell the Taliban through force, President Asif Ali Zardari last week approved enforcement of Islamic sharia law in the Swat valley and adjoining areas despite criticism from Western governments and Pakistani liberals and rights groups.
Critics said the approval of sharia law in the valley, 125 km (80 miles) northwest of Islamabad, was akin to appeasing the militants.
Within days they forced their way into a new district closer to the capital, refused to lay down their arms and said their aim was to push their harsh version of Islam across the country.
'They are now threatening to get out of Swat and take other areas into their custody. So we've got to avoid that situation,' former prime minister Nawaz Sharif said in an interview with USA Today published Wednesday.
Sharif is seen as the most popular politician in Pakistan after he forced Zardari to give in on a confrontation over the independence of the judiciary last month..."
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