Accusing the dignitaries of destroying the peace in Swat, Fazlullah warned that they would face "dangerous consequences" if they did not appear.
Pakistani Taliban commander Maulana Fazullah has directed over 50 dignitaries, including provincial and federal lawmakers, of the troubled Swat valley to appear in his "Sharia court" within a week.
Accusing the dignitaries of destroying the peace in Swat, Fazlullah warned that they would face "dangerous consequences" if they did not appear along with their family members in Taliban courts.
Among the dignitaries targeted by the Taliban are members of the North West Frontier Province Assembly and National Assembly, the local mayor, elders of Swat, provincial ministers and leaders of the Awami National Party, Pakistan People's Party, PPP-Sherpao, PML-Q and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam.
"They (dignitaries) have destroyed peace in Swat and they should be tried in the Taliban's Shariah courts," Fazalullah said in a speech broadcast on his illegal FM radio station.
"If they do not appear in the courts, they will face dangerous consequences," he said.
Fazlullah, a radical cleric who heads Taliban fighters in the Swat valley located 160 km from Islamabad, directed the dignitaries to present themselves and their families in the courts within a week.
The Taliban commander read out the names of all the people who should appear in the Islamic courts, said local residents who heard the broadcast. Some of the persons summoned by Fazlullah have already left Swat due to security reasons.
Militant spokesman Muslim Khan told reporters in Swat that the list of dignitaries summoned to the Shariah courts was drawn up during a meeting of the Taliban's central council.
Muslim Khan, the Taliban spokesman blamed the dignitaries for the ongoing military offensive against the Taliban.
"The military offensive was launched at their behest and they blocked the enforcement of Shariah," Khan said.
The people on the list will be targeted if they do not appear in the Taliban courts to "clarify their position", he said. "No other citizen and government official will be targeted. Those who have left the area can return home," he added.
Most parts of Swat, once a popular tourist resort, are now controlled by the Taliban, who have banned girls' education in the area and directed men to wear skull caps and stop shaving their beards. A former mujahideen was gunned down by the Taliban last week for not hiking up his salwar over his ankles.
The Taliban have bombed and torched nearly 200 girls' schools in Swat and targeted shops selling CDs and DVDs. Local militants man check posts in most towns and villages across the valley and Shariah or Islamic courts set up by the Taliban
dispense their own brand of justice.
There have been several instances of men being publicly flogged in markets for a variety of offences, including the selling of poor quality meat. The main square in Mingora, the headquarters in Swat district, was dubbed the "Khooni Chowk" after militants executed men and women and hung up their bodies there.
Taliban commanders regularly announce edicts during their nightly broadcasts on illegal FM stations.
Hundreds of people have been killed in Swat since the army launched an offensive against Fazlullah's fighters in October 2007.
Despite several claims from the military that it had cleared the valley of militants, the Taliban are in control of most major towns and villages in Swat.
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