PESHAWAR, Jan 3: Chief of proscribed Tanzeem Nifaz-i-Shariat-i-Mohammadi (TNSM) Maulana Sufi Mohammad told an anti-terrorism court here on Monday that he had no links with the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and his organisation was striving only for enforcement of Sharia in Malakand.

Sources told this reporter that the presiding officer of ATC, Swat, Asim Imam conducted the proceedings inside Peshawar central prison in about nine cases against Sufi Mohammad and several other persons. These cases were registered over a decade ago in different police stations of Swat.

They said that Sufi Mohammad was healthy and wearing his traditional black turban. An official present on the occasion told Dawn that Sufi Mohammad claimed that he had no links with the Taliban and was never involved in any anti-state activity.

Unlike his past stance that the Constitution of Pakistan and its judicial system were un-Islamic, the TNSM chief said that he was a citizen of Pakistan and respected its constitution and laws.

The sources said that the presiding officer assured Sufi Mohammad that he would be given a fair trial. The court also asked him to hire a counsel for his defence so as to proceed in the cases registered against him.

It is learnt that the nine cases pertained to 1994 when the TNSM had stepped up its movement for enforcement of Sharia in Malakand division and its armed supporters had occupied several government installations in Swat. Then PPP government had launched an operation to dislodge them from those installations.

One of the cases registered at Mingora police station pertained to the killing of PPP MPA Badiuz Zaman at a hotel in Swat, allegedly by the TNSMactivists.

Interestingly, while Sufi Mohammad mostly remained imprisoned during the last decade the successive governments did not conduct his trial in these cases and even in one of the cases he was shown as proclaimed offender.

He was first arrested in Kurram Agency in Dec 2001 on his return to Pakistan from Afghanistan where he had led his around 10,000 supporters to fight against the American forces.

Bureau Report

PESHAWAR, Jan 3: Chief of proscribed Tanzeem Nifaz-i-Shariat-i-Mohammadi (TNSM) Maulana Sufi Mohammad told an anti-terrorism court here on Monday that he had no links with the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and his organisation was striving only for enforcement of Sharia in Malakand.Sources told this reporter that the presiding officer of ATC, Swat, Asim Imam conducted the proceedings inside Peshawar central prison in about nine cases against Sufi Mohammad and several other persons. These cases were registered over a decade ago in different police stations of Swat.They said that Sufi Mohammad was healthy and wearing his traditional black turban. An official present on the occasion told Dawn that Sufi Mohammad claimed that he had no links with the Taliban and was never involved in any anti-state activity.Unlike his past stance that the Constitution of Pakistan and its judicial system were un-Islamic, the TNSM chief said that he was a citizen of Pakistan and respected its constitution and laws.The sources said that the presiding officer assured Sufi Mohammad that he would be given a fair trial. The court also asked him to hire a counsel for his defence so as to proceed in the cases registered against him.It is learnt that the nine cases pertained to 1994 when the TNSM had stepped up its movement for enforcement of Sharia in Malakand division and its armed supporters had occupied several government installations in Swat. Then PPP government had launched an operation to dislodge them from those installations.One of the cases registered at Mingora police station pertained to the killing of PPP MPA Badiuz Zaman at a hotel in Swat, allegedly by the TNSM activists.Interestingly, while Sufi Mohammad mostly remained imprisoned during the last decade the successive governments did not conduct his trial in these cases and even in one of the cases he was shown as proclaimed offender.He was first arrested in Kurram Agency in Dec 2001 on his return to Pakistan from Afghanistan where he had led his around 10,000 supporters to fight against the American forces.