ISLAMABAD: A key member of the Taliban negotiating team Maulana Samiul Haq met with the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) shura on Wednesday and conveyed some suggestions on behalf of the committee, DawnNews quoted sources as saying.
Meanwhile, Maulana Yousuf Shah, who acts as contact person for the TTP, said that the Taliban have hinted at continuing the negotiations and further expressed the hope that they would respond positively to the requests.
Shah said that the public would be apprised of the Taliban’s decision. He said that in order to ensure successful peace talks, it was imperative that the government and the TTP should enter a ceasefire.
Violence and talks could not go side by side: Nisar
On the other hand, the federal minister for interior Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told the National Assembly on Wednesday that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the wake of grave violent incidents decided to suspend the talks as violence and talks could not go side by side.
The interior minister said that the federal government gave priority to dialogues with those who wanted to talk. He said that talks were held with commitment and transparently. However, he said‚ unfortunately the violence in the country did not come to an end.
TTP rejects govt’s call for unconditional ceasefire
On Tuesday, the TTP rejected the government’s call for an unconditional ceasefire.
“If this is what we have to do, we would have done it 10 years ago,” TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said.
“It is the government which has waged a war against us and it is for the government to end it now. Let the government hold fire and we shall follow suit,” the spokesman said.
