Swat launches registration drive for prayer leaders

* Analysts fear registration drive will be delayed by security personnel's focus on ensuring protection for returning IDPs




By Iqbal Khattak




PESHAWAR: Authorities in the Swat district have launched a campaign against Afghan nationals serving as prayer leaders in the region's mosques, ordering mandatory registration of all mosque caretakers to prevent the Taliban from using the worship sites as recruitment centres.




"We have started to register all prayer leaders and are seeking their complete biographies. We hope this process will be completed soon," Mingora police chief Sajid Mohmand said of the initiative ordered by the NWFP cabinet during a July 20 meeting. He said the move against non-local prayer leaders, primarily from Bajaur or Afghanistan, was a necessity in light of the foreigners' association with the Taliban. Using the media, the government has directed all prayer leaders to register themselves with the nearest police station or risk governmental action. The message has also directed all police stations to compile complete details about each prayer leader.




A resident of Matta tehsil, regarded as a Taliban stronghold, told Daily Times the Taliban often used mosques to spread their propaganda. He said the Taliban would summon the local population to the mosques, where Taliban leaders would deliver sermons against the government and invite the residents to jihad. "These prayer leaders used to facilitate the Taliban by welcoming them and giving them time to deliver pro-jihad and anti-government sermons," he added on condition of anonymity.




Possible delays: However, despite the launch of the initiative, local analysts fear the drive against Afghan national prayer leaders would be delayed due to police being burdened with security arrangements for the internally displaced persons (IDPs). The police chief admitted the possibility, saying local police were currently focused on providing security to the government departments, banks and schools that reopened on Saturday.




The operation against Afghan national prayer leaders is part of several security measures proposed by both civil and military authorities to prevent the Taliban from returning. NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti has also proposed the removal of government servants who "collaborated" with the Taliban and has set up a committee comprising the Establishment secretary and the home and tribal affairs departments to investigate cases of "Taliban collaborators" in government departments.