Pakistan Truce Appears Defunct

But criticism of the deal has grown in recent months. U.S. and NATO troops have confronted escalating violence in Afghanistan, with much of it traced back across the border into Pakistan. Meanwhile, Pakistani tribal areas have increasingly come under the Taliban's sway, with the group using force to push its extreme vision of Islamic law.

The apparent collapse of the agreement came after U.S. intelligence officials reported last week that al-Qaeda was reestablishing itself in ungoverned areas in Pakistan. In a series of televised interviews Sunday, national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley identified the North Waziristan deal as part of the problem Musharraf faces in attempting to confront extremism.

"It has not worked the way he wanted," Hadley said Sunday in an interview on the ABC program "This Week." "It has not worked the way we wanted."

Musharraf, who also leads the army and is considered a crucial U.S. counterterrorism ally, is facing growing challenges to his eight-year rule. In recent months, he has come under assault from extremists who consider him a pawn of the United States, and moderates who want a return to a civilian, democratic government in Pakistan.

The moderates have also criticized Musharraf for not doing enough to counter extremism.

Last week, however, he ordered a raid on a mosque in Islamabad where clerics had been pushing for a theocratic government modeled after the Taliban rule in Afghanistan.

Since then, the raid has become a rallying cry among hard-line religious leaders who have accused the government of covering up the true death count. The government has said that fewer than 100 people died in the raid, while hard-liners have alleged the toll was far higher.

"The Red Mosque was a created problem," said Hafiz Riaz Durrani, information secretary for the Jamiat-e-Ulema-i-Islami party. "America pressured Musharraf to take action, and he pressured the armed forces to take action against the Islamists."

Ali reported from Peshawar, Pakistan. Special correspondent Shahzad Khurram in Islamabad contributed to this report.