ISLAMABAD: The federal minister for interior Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said on Saturday that the government has decided to release up to 13 Taliban prisoners as part of goodwill gesture, adding that some of the prisoners are those included in the list given by the Taliban to give to the government.
The interior minister was talking to media representatives after chairing a joint meeting of the government and the Taliban negotiating committees in Islamabad on Saturday.
Nisar said that the government released 19 non-combatants Taliban earlier in March and by the time the next round of direct talks begins next week, with the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Shura the number would reach 30.
The minister said that the direct talks are entering in defining moments as the two sides would discuss core issues in the coming round. However, he cautioned that there cannot be one-sided traffic and the other side will also have to reciprocate the gesture of the government by releasing non-combatants.
Chaudhry Nisar said that many people are in the custody of the Taliban and in today’s meeting the government side particularly pointed out the name of Professor Ajmal, sons of former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and late Governor Punjab Salman Taseer and some government employees.
Earlier, a joint meeting of the government and the Taliban negotiating committees was held in Islamabad on Saturday with the interior minister in the chair.
During the meeting, they discussed progress of talks as well as venue and date for the next round of direct talks between the government team and the TTP Shura.
