Free elections in Pakistan Monday were to be the first step in bringing a dysfunctional nuclear power back to democratic stability.
The preliminary first step was a deal with the pro-al Qaeda Taliban chief in the tribal areas. Pakistani's new army chief of staff, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kiyani, and the "emir" of Tehrik-e-Taliban-Pakistan, Baitullah Mehsud, agreed to a cease-fire, as well as the withdrawal of the Pakistani army from South Waziristan, one of the seven tribal agencies along the Afghan border (known as FATA, or Federally Administered Tribal Areas).
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