Government and the militants on Friday agreed on a ceasefire in Swat, hours after a policeman was killed in an attack on a security convoy in the area, officials said.
The truce was reached in a meeting between the government of North-Western Frontier Province (NWFP), which is lead by liberal Awami National Party (ANP), and the representatives of Maulana Fazlullah in Chakdara area of the district.
Wajid Ali Khan, a provincial minister, who attended the meeting together with two other senior ministers, confirmed to Deutsche Presse-Agenture dpa that the accord had been reached with the militants.
"It was our first direct contact with Taliban, a confidence building measure. We have agreed on a ceasefire. We are meeting again within a week," the minister said. Fazlullah's spokesman, Muslim Khan, who also participated in the parleys, told dpa that; "it was an effort for restoring peace in the region. We have agreed on ceasefire."
Under the agreement, the militants ensured that they would observe the ceasefire and halt attacks on the state property, troops and girls' schools. The government in return assured not to arrest any of Fazlullah's followers or pound their hideouts.
The agreement came hours after the suspected militants ambushed a security convoy in Swat district, leaving one policeman killed. Security forces were searching and cordoning off an area in Kabal when they were fired upon, the army said in a statement.
One police officer and three paramilitary soldiers were injured in the ambush, it said. Violence swept through Swat late last year when the military launched an offensive against Fazlullah, whose men took control of key towns in the district and enforced self-defined Mohammedan laws.
The peace process was halted on April 28 when a spokesman of the militant umbrella organisation - Tehrik Taliban Pakistan - announced it would suspend negotiations with the authorities.