Pak court issues arrest warrant for Fazlullah
A Pakistani court on Friday issued an arrest warrant for Maulana Fazlullah, the chief of the Taliban in the Sway valley, and directed police to produce him before it by June 7 in connection with a host of cases including those related to attacks on security personnel.
The arrest warrant was issued by an anti-terrorism court in Swat headed by Judge Iqbal Khan, which was looking into 25 cases against Fazlullah sent to it by the government of Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa province.
The court asked police to produce the militant commander before it by June 7.
The cases against Fazlullah included those related to attacks on security forces and police, killing of innocent people and inflicting damage to state property in the Malakand division.
Fazlullah, also known as Mullah Radio for his fiery sermons broadcast on illegal FM channels, escaped to Afghanistan after the Pakistan Army launched an operation to flush the Taliban out of Swat last year.
Police in Afghanistan's Nuristan province recently claimed Fazlullah was killed in clashes with security forces but this was later denied by the Taliban.
In a separate development, Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa province shifted 33 militants from the central prison in Peshawar to Swat, officials said.
They were apprehended by security forces during search operations and raids in the Malakand division.
Maulana Sufi Muhammad, the chief of the banned Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariah Muhammadi, will remain in the central prison in Peshawar.
He is being kept in a separate room and authorities have increased his rations, the officials said.
