Pakistan arrests cleric

Police in Pakistan have arrested an influential pro-Taliban cleric who had brokered a failed peace deal in the troubled Swat Valley, in an indication the government will no longer negotiate with militants.

Authorities accused Sufi Muhammad, father-in-law of Swat’s notorious Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah, of encouraging violence and terrorism.

The peace deal in February imposed Sharia, or Islamic law, in the valley in exchange for an end to two years of fighting. But it was widely seen as handing over control of the valley, once a popular tourist destination, to the Taliban.