Washington:  The United States said today it would reserve judgement" on Pakistan's peace deal with pro-Taliban militants, and would monitor how effective it is in stopping attacks.

"We'll see. We'll reserve judgement on these things," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters when asked about the deal for Pakistan's northwestern Swat Valley.

Success in fighting militancy involves not just security, but also political and economic measures, he added. "What you have to do is get the right mix of elements," McCormack said.

"What we don't want to see is any sort of effort that results in the violent extremists, militants being able to use" the northwestern region "for the purposes of planning and launching terrorist attacks," McCormack added.

The deal with Pakistan's new government calls for the gradual withdrawal of troops from the devastated former tourist region of Swat and the imposition of Islamic Sharia law in line with the rebels demands, provincial ministers said.

In return, the militants will close training camps, hand over foreign fighters and halt suicide attack on government installations and security forces under the 15-point pact.

The army launched a major offensive in October to clear Swat of militants loyal to Maulana Fzlullah, a radical pro-Taliban cleric ho led an uprising to enforce Shariat law in the valley.

US, NATO and Afghan officials have criticised previous peace deals in Pakistan, saying that they have led to an increase in suicide attacks on international and Afghan forces across the border in Afghanistan.

McCormack acknowledged problems with past agreements, but hesitated to say they were similar.

Source : PTI