Washington, Feb. 21 : The special US envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke has expressed his concern over the peace deal between the Pakistan Government and the Taliban in the Swat Valley, saying the Swat deal is `hard to understand.'

Holbrooke called Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari to convey Washington's stance on the issue, The Daily Times reports.

He said Zardari has assured him that the peace deal was only an `interim arrangement' to stabilise the troubled region.

Krakow, Feb 21 : US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has said that Washington could accept a political agreement between the Afghanistan Government and the Taliban along the lines of the truce in Pakistan.

Gates' comments at the close of a NATO meeting contrasted with those of Richard Holbrooke, the US special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, who said he was worried that the peace deal was tantamount to surrender by Pakistan.

Islamabad, Feb 21: The Mumbai terror attacks masterminds arrested by Pakistan will be grilled by a seven member US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) next week to establish authenticity of Pakistani findings and get further information from the 26/11 accused.

The six persons to be interrogated by the FBI team include masterminds Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Zarar Shah; main facilitator of the attack Hamad Amin Sadiq; Abu Alqama alias Mazhar Iqbal; Javed Iqbal; and another unidentified suspect.

Islamabad  - Taliban forces in Pakistan's restive valley of Swat, in talks Friday with a cleric who signed a peace deal with the government earlier this week, refused to disarm until Islamic sharia is completely enforced in the region, a Taliban spokesman said.

Maulana Sufi Mohammad, the top signatory of the Monday's peace deal with regional government in North West Frontier Province, tried to convince his son-in-law and Taliban leader in Swat, Maulana Fazlullah, to abandon violence in the talks held at an undisclosed location.

Islamabad - President Asif Ali Zardari Friday left for China on his second official visit since assuming office last year to promote economic cooperation and seek Chinese assistance to meet energy crises faced by the country.

"The focus of the President's visit is promoting cooperation in the fields of agriculture and hydro-power projects as well as financial sector," Pakistan Foreign Ministry's spokesperson Abdul Basit said.

Islamabad, Feb. 20 : The Pakistan Government has disapproved growing international criticism of the sharia-deal signed with Taliban, saying that speculations would not be helpful.

"Establishing peace, security and stability are matters of highest priority for Pakistan Government and it will use all necessary means to achieve these objectives,' said Abdul Basit, the Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesman at the weekly media briefing.