NATO worried about Islamic law agreement

NATO has expressed concern over a peace deal between officials in northwestern Pakistan and Taliban sympathizers. NATO officials have said they believe there is now the danger of extremists having a safe haven in Pakistan's Swat Valley. Pakistani officials in North West Frontier Province signed an agreement Monday with Sufi Muhammad, a militant leader who said he would stop battling Pakistan forces in exchange for Islamic law in the Swat valley. Some of Muhammad's family head hardline groups of Pakistani Taliban in the area. Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has praised the deal, but NATO officials have pointed to another deal that was made by local government in the area last year, after which militants simply continued their attacks. Militants from various factions are operating in northwestern Pakistan to attack forces in Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan.