Afghan Taliban supreme commander Mullah Muhammad Omar is pushing Pakistani militants based in the tribal areas to strike a peace deal with the government and has advised the chief of the Haqqani network to mediate between them.
“We have received a message from Ameerul-Momineen that there should be an end to our activities inside Pakistan …he wants us to make peace with the government and focus on Afghanistan against infidels,” a Taliban associate said.
This was confirmed to The Express Tribune over the past week by at least two other members of the terror group based in South Waziristan, as well as a couple of tribal elders privy to the ongoing talks between the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the government.
However, none of them wanted to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Meeting between Afghan, Pakistani militants
It was not clear when and how the elusive leader of the Afghan Taliban had sent his message.
At least two Taliban affiliates, one in Miramshah, North Waziristan and the other in Wana, South Waziristan, said that communication between representatives of Mullah Omar and Pakistani militants took place in an Arab country this Ramazan.
But a tribal elder, who claimed to be in the know of the ongoing talks, said that the son of a slain Afghan militant leader came to Waziristan as Mullah Omar’s representative.
The young messenger, he added, travelled from Kandahar to South Waziristan, the stronghold of the TTP, immediately after Ramazan and held meetings with members of a powerful shura that takes policy decisions for Pakistani militant groups.
Both the tribal leader and militant group’s insiders were, however, not sure if the representative of the Afghan Taliban fugitive head also met TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud, who has been in hiding for almost a year now.
In the neighbouring North Waziristan agency, Mullah Omar’s message for peace with Pakistan and its security forces has also been making rounds for some time now.
The network’s associates from Mirali town said that the group’s chief, Sirajuddin Haqqani, had been advised by Mullah Omar, whom he called his spiritual leader, to use his influence over the TTP to help broker the peace deal.
Military, intelligence deny reports of talks
It emerged over the last weekend that Pakistan security forces and the homegrown Taliban were holding talks to end an almost a decade old conflict in the country’s tribal areas.
Follow-up reports this week suggested that both sides had already covered ‘significant ground’ and were close to an agreement.
However, the Pakistani military immediately issued a strong denial, with the Taliban also rejecting the claim, although they earlier said that a truce was in place to pave way for talks.
In September, Pakistan’s top political and military leadership expressed desire to open peace talks with its ‘own people’ operating from the country’s tribal areas.
Since almost half a year now, Pakistani cities have been relatively calm and life is slowly returning to normalcy after years of violent attacks by the homegrown Taliban.
Experts like journalist Fida Khan, who has been covering militancy for a Japanese publication for more than a decade now, believes that this calm itself is an indication of something significant happening away from the media limelight.
“But all this will remain fragile for sometime unless something concrete happens and a slight mistake can blow things into a bigger conflict,” Khan feared.
‘Move by the Taliban to voluntarily end war will be welcomed’.
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Friday that Pakistan will not initiate a dialogue with the local Taliban unless they lay down their arms and give up terrorism.
A move by the Taliban to voluntarily end war will be welcomed, Malik said at a press briefing along with UK Home Secretary Theresa May.
(Read: Talking to the terrorists)
ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM APP
Published in The Express Tribune, November 26th, 2011.
COMMENTS (41)
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Fools plain Foools each one of you couldnt find a single comment that showed any one of you have an understanding whats been going on in Afghanistan since the fall of U.S.S.R.
Its all because the revolution in afghanistan was evaded from our eyes and ears and we were forced to look at the Aafghan Islamic Revolution through the eyes of BBC and CNN.
Its very dissappointing and disheartning to say the least that enemies of Islam know better about whom they are fighting then us pakistanis.
@shaheer:
I'm sorry for the twisted un-Islamic ideological mindset of our leadership and our people that's been developed on how they view different militants and terrorists and our neighbours. I cannot explain why there's a severe cognitive dissonance and other thinking failures due to regional and religious paranoia and prejudice.
I can only imagine how you feel when someone comments 'Great News!', being selfishly and hypocritically relieved that a terrorist criminal calls on Pak terrorist groups to spare Pakistan and instead join them in their country to continue bloodshed of Afghan innocents in Afghanistan by getting tacit support from Pak establishment, as if peace has been achieved, without even thinking of the welfare of our Afghan neighbours.
Well its sad to hear that no more Pakistani establishment linked members would be blown up. Although I don't agree placing bombs where ordinary Pakistani will be killed, but their are plenty of reasons for Jihad to be continued in Pakistan.
The law if an old English law. Brothels everywhere. Poor people being killed, raped, sold by gangs, chodries and other elites. Kids, students in Lal masjed were bombed. Surrendered hundreds of Muslims to US.I don't want fight in Pakistan but those are reason when your army, isi, mullahs tells to Afghan taliban in order to fight in Afghanistan.
I am surprised that no Pakistani expressed concerns over his message that all attention should be paid to Afghanistan.
In Afghanistan they are not only fighting against NATO, they 1. kill every one who works for any reason with afghan government and any NGO. 2. Burn schools. 3. Prevents boys and girls from going to school. 4. Kills people in masjed, even if they are praying. 5. Even they kill people and than call their mothers to hear the screams of their sons when they are being tortured and then killed. 6.The don't let any one to build road, hospital or anything which eases an afghan's life
Please be put some mercy in your hurts if you are followers of Prophet Mohammad. Afghans are being killed since 30 years and more then two million of them died.
Even the hurt of shaitan would be soften after so much afghan blood, but your amy and ISI are still thirsty of Afghan blood..
@Moise:
What peace are you talking about? What did I do exactly to destroy peace? Is factually criticizing the ignorant bliss in shamelessly anointing a known murdering terrorist as an Islamic leader that you take issue with...is that the peace of twisted mind you're talking about me destroying over the thousands of killed by the actual Kharjites?
So let me get this straight......Mullah Omar and his psychotic anti-Islamic foot soldiers who blow up girls' schools, Masjids, shrines, markets, police stations, Imambargahs, hotels, government buildings, checkpoints, hospitals, graveyards, political rallies, Jirgas, etc and killed thousands of Pakistani and non-Pakistani innocents are given a free pass, but because I condemn them and dislike having to capitulate to their demands and new attempt at 'peace charades', and take serious offense to a commentator praising a criminal making a mockery of an honored Islamic leader title, who has a history of praising notorious religious terrorists, I am the one destroying peace?!
Clearly I'm in a messed up bizarro world...what up is down, what down is left, what left is backwards....
ET, would you please at least let this comment finally get posted.
@Realist: Thanks for looking it up.
However, I was not referring to their literal successors, but what many other Islamic scholars and academics have observed of the Taliban and like minded extremist groups, of being the modern day neo-Kharjites.
It's an apt analogy to their extremism and historic precedent. If we were to apply a critical analysis, the Kharjites were the first know extremists, fanatics, radicals, terrorists, etc, in Islamic history because of the violent barbaric methods they employed regardless of their different ideological origins or grievances compared to the Wahhabi/Salafi/Deobandi/Sunni hardliners.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kharjites
http://www.princeton.edu/~batke/itl/denise/kharijis.htm
@bigsaf: Good job destroying peace.
Please allow me to humble my heart and appeal to Mullah Omar. I urge him to persuade the TTP to release the two Swiss hostages, who are in their captivity since July. The Swiss people will not forget your courage, kindness and noble spirit and will help build hospitals and improve the medical facilities in the FATA.
Mullah Omar the spiritual leader and unifying force in Pakistan. TTP, LeT, JeM are all patriotic charity organizations as designatEd by UN.
@faraz: we're eating pizza, drinking beer & playing video games. Let us know when u think something meaningful has happened and we'll think about looking into it.
More pablum for the disconnected. The tribals never listen to anybody let alone themselves. The only time they heed anything is if their lives are on the line. Whatever arrangements that manage to come from 'all this' will be forgotten within months.
Dr Priyanka
The Budhists of Afganistan are long dead. Killed by the very people that destroyed the Baamiyan Buddhas. If that is these people's belief system, then we should let it be and worry about our own future.
People of Pakistan continue to be held hostage by It's official protectors and it's cloned parasites called Taliban, each playing dirty games of subterfuge, deception, slant and slander.
Mulla Omer & Sirajuddin are icons of strategic depth philosophy. The individuals & organizations attached to it are at a loss. These individuals are fighting a lost battle. In the process of misguided struggle they are injuring society at large.
This is coming from the same man who demanded no killings of civilians during your celebration and it amounted to nothing. He also doesn't seem to be in any hurry to punish them for it like he said he would or even openly condemn them in a follow-up to that statement. There simply has to be more to this. It's just too abrupt and out of character after 10 years. People usually aren't vague when they're trying to be convincing unless there are details that will cause some form of harm not in their favor.
And the trio went about doing what they do best happily ever after.
Whether he is with taliban or with TTP, he is a terrorist, murdered thousand of people both muslims and non-muslims around the world, carried a wrong image of ISLAM. Instead of peace talk he should be hanged to death.
@bigsaf: Thanks for the clarification. I won't have known that. It is certainly sad to say the least!
@Yousaf:
Unfortunately, yes, Yousaf, you have misunderstood. Had I not known the commentators history of comments and context myself, I too would have concluded it as sarcasm.
However, after knowing his past comments (threats sometimes) and responding to him on ET's website, assuming the Arabic script and English script username belongs to the same person who seems to have the same style and views, you'll notice there's no sarcasm, and sadly shame, and he is serious in his open and blunt support for sectarian and religious militant extremists and terrorists, including such as the likes of Malik Ishaq, Hafiz Saeed, Osama Bin Laden, etc.
It seems to be a good policy, sort out afghanistan first and then we will take on pakistan. Ppl in pakistan are more interested in peace presently, less bothered about the kind of extreme attitudes their generations will face bcoz of todays wrong. Bravo bros keep deciving yourselves with comspiracy theories and false resurgence of islam.
@Cautious: Yes they want to concentrate on Afghanistan now then they will turn to Pakistan.
Wake up people -- the one eyed terrorist has always wanted Pakistani Taliban to fight in Afghanistan -- he hasn't changed his tune one iota - the TTP want to make Pakistan into a clone of Afghanistan as it was under the Taliban - you can't do that fighting in Afghanistan.
So Zaid Hamid's claim that TTP is a CIA backed organization is wrong then?
@bigsaf: Unless I have misunderstood it, the comment from Sirat-ul-Mustaqeem was meant as a sarcastic remark rather than a serious statement of respect for Mullah Omar or TTP.
Why is Mullah Umer talking to 'CIA-RAW-MOSAD backed TTP'? Is Mullah Umer also a CIA agent? Where are the conspiracy theorists now?
Yes it is true, there has been no blast and blood bath of Pakistani civilians in the last several months. It only proves that the culprits were TTP and Mullah Omar and nobody else. I am glad that they now openly accepted killing thousands of Pakistani civilians. However, their friends and apologists must be happy that we are going to be friends again with those killers. No remorse and no punishment for butchering those innocent victims? It is only fair Taliban style.
@صراط المستقیم:
Did you just designate a Kharjite terrorist criminal whose backward anti-Islam violent ideology is treacherously behind the deaths of thousands of Afghan and Pakistani civilians and security men in suicide bombings and other such attacks as Ameer-ul-Momineen?!
What twisted path and mindset do you follow?! This is beyond extremist sympathy, the praise is outright support to the enemy and nothing short of treason.
Mullah Omar looks like to the spiritual leader of Pakistan.
Good news for pakistani people who r suffering from blasts everywhere in the country for the last 10 years. One can see why there is no blast in the last 2, 3 months. The only solution is dialouge with the tribal militants. Let the poor people of pakistan live in peace.
TTP and Afghan Taliban are two different forces with no affiliation with each other. Mulla Omar repeatedly denied any links with TTP. He also said that Afghan Taliban have no enmity against our Pakistani forces.
How does the Media find terrorist, when allegedly the CIA cant ?
With peace we can be united again and fight against the real enemies and their stooges in the govt. The winds of change are blowing everywhere. But I am agent the war lobby and CIA/MI6 agents in Pakistan and Afghanistan will try to sabotage peace. But Inshallah peace will prevail.
Exactly half a year since Pak Mil ousted Blackwater/CIA operatives along with US mil 'trainers'. I'll leave you to figure out the rest
As long as they promise to bring peace!
Ameer-ul-Momineen Mullah Omar is completely right and TTP should stop its activities inside Pakistan.
I guess IK's suggestion of giving peace a chance has started paying off.
Finally some good news!