ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif did not issue any order to set free any Taliban prisoner while a foreign news agency report in this regard is not correct, said a statement issued by the PM’s Office on Thursday.
The statement further said that the FATA political agents set free only those miscreants who are involved in normal crimes.
Earlier, a foreign news agency citing officials reported that with the approval of the prime minister, the Pakistani government has freed at least 16 Taliban prisoners as a part of its efforts to boost reconciliation efforts with the militant group.
“South Waziristan’s political administration released sixteen men on April 1,” Reuters quoted the political agent of South Waziristan Islam Zeb as saying. “They are not major commanders. They are innocent tribals who were arrested during different search operations in South Waziristan in the last two to three years.”
The political agent said that all the released prisoners belonged to the Mehsud tribe. He said that another 100 prisoners on the Taliban’s list were being processed and would be released in the next few days.
A source in the office of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said that the prime minister personally authorized the releases.
“But they (released prisoners) are all non-combatant civilians. They are not sensitive figures,” he said. “Maybe some of them are Taliban sympathizers but they are not commanders and have no role in the talks process.”
“Releasing them will create goodwill and we hope they (Taliban) will reciprocate,” he added.
Meanwhile, a senior army official said the release of Taliban prisoners involved in attacks on civilians and the army was “impossible”. “There is no way these hardened militants will be freed.”
“Neither will the army pull out of the tribal areas. What are the Taliban asking: that we hand them parts of the country? That’s not going to happen. No chance,” said the official who declined to be identified.
On March 1, the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) announced a one-month ceasefire, aimed at reviving peace talks after receiving what it said were government assurances it would not be attacked.
Later, the government negotiating team and the TTP Shura held their first round of direct peace talks on March 26 in a remote area of North Waziristan, during which the both sides reached consensus on extending the ceasefire and on the exchange of non-combatants prisoners.
