Pakistan ups reward for Taliban chief

Pakistan ups reward for Taliban chief
CA Online and wire service
01/06/2009


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ISLAMABAD – Pakistan has increased its reward for Swat valley Taliban chief Maulana Fazlullah to US$600,000, a ten-fold increase in the bounty the government offered initially.
Officials acted after Pakistani Taliban leaders warned of more bomb attacks in cities in retaliation for a government offensive in the north-west. Authorities in Peshawar have banned public gatherings a day after at least 10 people died in two separate attacks.
On May 27, at least 24 people died in a bomb attack in Lahore which targeted a police station and intelligence agency offices. As fighting continued in Swat on May 30, the army said 28 militants had been killed and seven arrested over the last 24 hours. The army also said five soldiers and two civilians were injured in clashes. The figures cannot be independently verified.
The Taliban leader is the architect of a nearly two-year uprising in the Swat valley aimed at enforcing Sharia law. Interior Ministry officials said Maulana Fazlullah is behind "various subversive activities". The price on his head is payable dead or alive, officials said. Interior Secretary Syed Kamal Shah told Pakistan's APP news agency that the increase in the reward was made to "accelerate the efforts" to arrest him.
Authorities have offered cash rewards for the arrest of 21 Taliban leaders, spokesman Muslim Khan said. Adverts listing the men, 18 with photos of the wanted, appeared in several newspapers May 28. Top Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud already has a US$5 million bounty on his head posted by the U.S.
Hakimullah Mehsud, the Taliban commander for the Orakzai and Khyber tribal regions, told the BBC that the attack in Lahore was in response to the army's operation in the Swat valley. He warned of further attacks on "government targets" in Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Multan and said residents there should "evacuate their cities".

source: centralasiaonline.com/en/articles/pak_090601_chief_reward_1/pakistan.php