Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari has signed a law introducing Islamic ‘shariah’ law in the picturesque Swat valley in northwestern Pakistan in an attempt to end Taliban violence, but critics warn that it could encourage Taliban influence to spread further in the fragile country.

Lawmakers in the lower house of parliament on Monday unanimously approved a resolution paving the way to install Islamic law in courts in the Malakand region, of which Swat is the headquarters.