Second Canadian female soldier dies in Afghanistan

Tue Apr 14, 2009, 11:58 am ET

OTTAWA (AFP) –

A Canadian soldier has been killed and four others were injured when their armored vehicle struck a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan, the military said Tuesday.

The incident occurred north of Kandahar City in the Shah Wali Kowt District at about 5:00 pm local time Monday.

The bombing marks Canada's 117 fatality in the war-torn nation and the second time a female soldier was killed.

The injured troops were evacuated by helicopter to a hospital at the Canadian Forces base at Kandahar airfield, the military said in a statement.

Canada has 2,800 troops in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, routing insurgents.

Pakistan president signs shari'a deal

Tue Apr 14, 2009, 2:31 pm ET

ISLAMABAD (AFP) –

Pakistan's president signed an accord to put part of the country under Islamic law as part of efforts to end a Taliban insurgency, despite fears Tuesday that it would encourage extremism.

President Asif Ali Zardari's move formalises a deal between a pro-Taliban cleric who led thousands of supporters to fight against US troops in Afghanistan and the government in North West Frontier Province.

The deal applies to Malakand, a district of around three million people in the province that includes the Swat valley.

The central government lost control in Swat, a former ski resort and jewel in the crown of Pakistani tourism, after cleric Maulana Fazlullah launched a campaign to enforce Shari'a.

"God willing it will have a positive impact on the situation in Swat," said interior ministry chief Rehman Malik of the agreement.

"It is hoped that those who wanted this law in Swat will now surrender their arms and also bring the peace," he told reporters.

A spokesman for pro-Taliban cleric Soofi Mohammad, who signed the accord, said Zardari's signature would allow peace in Swat, just 160 kilometres (100 miles) away from the capital Islamabad.

"We will make all-out efforts to establish peace in the region. The Taliban have disarmed themselves and those who have not yet disarmed will do so soon," spokesman Amir Izzat Khan told AFP.

Islamic courts have been operating in Swat since last month, but the exact legal significance of the local deal has been shrouded in debate.

Residents in Swat still retain recourse to appeal courts under the federal judicial system, a mixture of colonial British law and sharia regulations.

Zardari's office said he "reiterates his commitment to the supremacy of the constitution."

Afghanistan Warns Against Pakistan's Taliban Accord

KABUL (AFP)--

Afghanistan warned Tuesday that Pakistan's deal to allow Taliban to adopt Islamic law in part of the country may have "dire consequences" for the region and could harm ties between the neighbors.

The criticism came after Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari signed an accord to put the vast Malakand district under sharia law as part of efforts to end an insurgency, despite fears that it could encourage extremism.

"We do not interfere in Pakistan's internal affairs," President Hamid Karzai's spokesman, Homayun Hamidzada, told reporters in response to a question about the deal.

However there were concerns that "dealing with terrorists and handing over parts of one country to terrorists could have dire consequences in the long term", he said.

Malakand is home to around three million people and includes the Swat valley, a former ski resort and jewel in the crown of Pakistani tourism until the central government lost control when cleric Maulana Fazlullah launched a campaign to enforce Taliban-style sharia.