Swat girl flogging video fake, official says By Fasihur Rehman Khan - April 05, 2009
Islamabad: A top government official of Pakistan's Taliban-controlled Swat region has made a surprise claim that the amateur video clip shown by television channels of a 17-year-old girl being flogged was fabricated, media reports say. Malakand Division Commissioner Syed Mohammad Javed was quoted by local media as saying that the incident shown in the video clip had not happened in the Swat valley and that the accents of the people heard speaking in the video were not those of the region. "This fabricated video clip is a conspiracy to sabotage the Swat peace deal between the Taliban and the NWFP government," the commissioner said after his visit to the Kala Kalay village where the incident is alleged to have taken place. Swat Taliban Spokesman Muslim Khan echoed his sentiments, claiming the tape was the handiwork of pro-West organisations. http://www.gulfnews.com/world/Pakistan/10301597.html
