Pakistan freed a pro-Taliban cleric and signed an accord with his hardline group Monday, the first major step by the country's new government to talk peace with Islamic militants and break with President Pervez Musharraf's policy of using force.

The day's developments began with the release of Sufi Muhammad, believed to be in his 70s, after he spent more than five years in custody following his dispatch of thousands of followers to fight in Afghanistan.

A few hours later, the government of the North West Frontier Province said Muhammad's group signed a pact renouncing violence in return for being allowed to peacefully campaign for Islamic law. Security forces have the right to "act against" any extremists who attack the government.

Analysts cautioned it would take time to judge the new approach, noting Musharraf also struck truces with some groups. U.S. officials complained the truces gave Pakistani militants as well as Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters a chance to build up their strength.

The anti-government sentiments in the region affected by Monday's deal are seen as less intractable than those held by Taliban sympathizers in the tribal regions of Waziristan, where U.S. officials believe Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders are hiding.

Doubts some militants will change

Provincial government spokesman Faridullah Khan said the pact covers the Swat Valley and neighbouring districts in the area along the Afghan frontier.

It was not clear if the deal was accepted by Muhammad's son-in-law, Maulana Fazlullah, whose fighters seized control of the Swat Valley last year, prompting a bloody army offensive.

Fazlullah's spokesman could not be reached for comment late Monday. Fazlullah is reportedly at odds with Muhammad, and experts expressed doubts the younger militant would change.

"I think Maulana Fazlullah will continue with whatever he is doing," said Mehmood Shah, former security chief for Pakistan's tribal areas.

Talat Masood, a retired general and security analyst, said the deal with Muhammad demonstrated the new government's willingness to try dialogue with militants and could increase pressure on Fazlullah and others to lay down their arms.

"But it's a long way before you can make any judgment as to whether this is a success," he said, citing the previous failed peace efforts with pro-Taliban militants.

"We have to see … to what extent both parties are going to abide by the agreement and whether the militants use this period to consolidate," he said.

Major shift from Musharraf's aggressive style

Pakistan's national government, led by the party of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, wants to use dialogue and development to curb militancy in the tribal region. The North West Frontier provincial government, which is led by a Pashtun nationalist party, has joined the effort.

It is a major shift from the more aggressive approach that Musharraf's military regime took, with U.S. support, after Pakistan joined the U.S. "war on terror" following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.

Officials at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad could not be reached for comment late Monday. In Washington, State Department spokesman Tom Casey said he did not have any details on Muhammad's release, but the U.S. is "continuing to co-operate with the government of Pakistan as it seeks to confront extremism."

While Western nations have voiced support for dialogue if Pakistan's militants renounce violence, the release of Muhammad could cause some unease.

Muhammad founded Tehrik Nifaz-e-Sharia Mohammed — the Movement for the Enforcement of Islamic Law — and sent thousands of volunteers to fight in Afghanistan against the U.S.-led invasion that toppled the Taliban regime in late 2001.

The deaths of many of those fighters hurt Muhammad's popularity. But the group resurfaced under the leadership of Fazlullah, who won a large following with firebrand preaching over an illegal FM radio station but alienated others by turning to violence.

Fazlullah tapped into popular frustration over official corruption and failings in the justice system. His group wants a Taliban-like system, including compulsory beards for men, mandatory veils for women and the outlawing of music and television.

Musharraf banned Muhammad's group in early 2002, and Muhammad was arrested when he returned to Pakistan. He was sentenced in November 2002 on a weapons charge.

Khan, the provincial spokesman, said the peace pact was signed Monday evening by Muhammad's deputy and eight other clerics as well as four government officials, including three provincial government ministers.