Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari today signed a regulation imposing Islamic law in the northwestern Swat valley as part of a deal to end Taliban violence.
Mr Zardari, under pressure from conservatives, signed the regulation late yesterday after the National Assembly passed a resolution recommending he approve it.
Many residents of the scenic valley, 125km northwest of Islamabad, hoped the agreement would bring peace after 18 months of bloodshed.
The White House voiced disappointment, saying the decision went against US goals of promoting democracy and human rights. Critics accuse Pakistan's government of demonstrating a lack of will to fight the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
Surging violence across Pakistan and the spread of Taliban influence through the northwest are reviving concerns about the stability of nuclear-armed Pakistan, an important US ally vital to efforts to stabilise neighbouring Afghanistan.
The government has struggled to come up with an effective strategy, alternating in different areas between military offensives and peace deals.
Swat was one of Pakistan's main tourist destinations until 2007, when militants infiltrated into the valley from strongholds on the Afghan border to the west in support of a radical cleric.
After inconclusive military offensives and a failed peace pact, authorities accepted an Islamist demand for sharia, or Islamic law, in February.
Reuters