Talks with TTP: Fazl puts emphasis on broad-based dialogue

Says all the militant groups should be included in talks.

ISLAMABAD:

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has said that the government should not focus on a single group and instead hold peace talks with all militants, including those that were already signatories to previous peace accords.

“The dialogue should be broad-based, including groups that have not been included so far, if a permanent peace is required,” a source quoted Fazl as saying.

The JUI-F chief suggested this in a meeting with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid, who had called on him on Tuesday, sources privy to the development told The Express Tribune.

According to sources, Fazl was of the opinion that if the peace process moved towards achieving success and a situation developed where a certain group was to be awarded concession, then its ambit would need to be expanded to groups that were already signatories of peace accords in their respective areas. “Otherwise the government will send across the message that you will be awarded [concessions] only when you are violent,” he said, according to sources.

Sources said the JUI-F’s long-standing demand for inclusion of the people of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) in the talks was also discussed in detail. “For the success of negotiations, it is important that the locals are taken on board, so that their trust remains intact even if the talks fail,” a source in the JUI-F told The Express Tribune.

They said the minister agreed that at some stage the people of Fata would be taken on board, while the rest of the issues would also be taken into consideration.

“They also assured that the talks will not be used as a ruse for any military operation and that the government wants to resolve the whole issue through talks,” said the JUI-F’s spokesperson Jan Achakzai in a statement.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 19^th, 2014.