Islamabad  - A firebrand Muslim cleric in Pakistan's volatile Swat valley Sunday warned authorities of protests if the government failed to set up Islamic courts in the region by mid-March.

Sufi Mohammad set the deadline two weeks after signing a deal with the regional government in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), trading off an end to militancy for enforcement of sharia laws in Malakand division, of which Swat is a district.

Protest camps will be established throughout Malakand in case the commitment was not honoured by March 15, Mohammad told reporters in Mingora, Swat's main town located about 60 kilometres northeast of NWFP capital Peshawar.

The cleric described as unsatisfactory steps so far taken by the government to implement the sharia justice system.

Authorities had announced that Islamic courts will be established after insurgency by Taliban militants, led by radical cleric and Mohammad's son-in-law Maulana Fazlullah, was put to an end.

Fazlullah on Tuesday declared an indefinite ceasefire after an initial 10-day truce, as the military said it was ceasing its operation in the valley, which until 2007 used to be one of the most- visited tourist resorts in Pakistan.

But Mohammad stressed that durable peace could not be guaranteed unless sharia laws were put in practice.

The private Aaj television channel reported Sunday that the authorities had prepared a revised draft of the sharia regulations, but this still had to undergo a series of approvals by the provincial and national governments.

Mohammad, who had been mediating between the authorities and the militants, asked both sides to refrain from attacks on each other and the public. He also sought release of prisoners held by them till March 10.

Since the February 16 peace agreement an uneasy calm returned to Swat, where government said 1,200 people died in 16 months of fighting. More than 250,000 people also left their homes to escape from the violence.

Observers have expressed scepticism about the success of the pact, basing their fears on Fazlullah's stance on enforcement of Taliban- style laws in Swat.

The government said it wanted peace with the militants, but had refused to withdraw troops from the region. dpa