Pak: Vulgarity dens given 15-day deadline by Taliban

Bannu, Pakistan, Apr 10: The local Taliban have given a 15-day deadline to the ''operators of vulgarity dens'' to end their business or face action in the conservative Bannu town of the Northwestern Frontier Province (NWFP).

The Taliban had also announced they would enforce Sharia in Bannu and wage war against the government if it tried to stop them, Daily Times quoted a security official as saying.

Pro-Taliban clerics have already set up an Islamic court at a local mosque in Islamabad to administer justice to the people and curb un-Islamic practices, a move rejected by the government as ''illegal''.

A high-level meeting held here yesterday under President General Pervez Musharraf decided to resolve the issue through dialogue.

Tariq Azeem, state minister for information told sources that use of force against the Taliban-style vice and virtue squads of the Lal Masjid would be the last option.

Students of the mosque's affiliated seminary Jamia Hafza began morality patrols in nearby markets asking DVD/Video shop owners to stop the ''un-Islamic'' business or face consequences.

UNI