Pakistan

Zardari open to talks with the Taliban

President Asif Ali Zardari said he is willing to consider reopening negotiations with the Taliban in Pakistan.

Express August 07, 2010

LONDON:

President Asif Ali Zardari said he is willing to consider reopening negotiations with the Taliban in Pakistan.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Zardari said that Pakistan had never closed the door to talks with the Taliban. "We never closed the dialogue," he said. "We had an agreement, which they broke. (Talks will resume) whenever they feel we're strong enough and they realise they can't win, because they won't win. It will be a painful difficult task, but defeat is not an option."

Zardari, called accusations by British Prime Minister David Cameron and others that Pakistan was exporting terrorism as "exaggerated", adding that the military was doing more than it ever had. He said the military was working hard to rid the Swat Valley and South Waziristan of extremist elements.

Zardari further dismissed assertions that some in the Pakistani government may know the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden.

Zardari urged the international community to equip his military with drones and other equipment. He also called for more help in opening up international markets to Pakistani trade and products

COMMENTS (8)

Sadia Hussain | 14 years ago | Reply A dialogue with Taliban must ensure that the first denounce violence and accept the political system. Those elements who want to be a part of the political setup can be integrated in the society as we need to take steps for reconciliation

Jahan | 14 years ago | Reply Imran Khan from the day one was saying and continue to say that there is no military solution and the solution should be political one. A true leader stands by his stance but these crooks will change their stance in a blink of an eye after getting green signal and dictation from Washington. Vote for Change Vote Pakistan Tehreek Insaf

VIEW MORE COMMENTS

Think therefore | 14 years ago | Reply somebody please stop him from talking to anybody... The guy is a diplomatic fiasco on legs..

MAK009X | 14 years ago | Reply Good, now also call him Pro-Taliban like Imran Khan.

moiz | 14 years ago | Reply @MB would that also explain why so many NATO troops are losing in Afghanistan?

MB | 14 years ago | Reply Talk with Taliban? on what? They want to turn PAK into Taliban State and wont back off an inch PAK nation does not want to and will not back off an inch where is the common ground? Negotiations are made on common grounds. There isnt any here Are not we tried of testing this "negotiation" tactic in Sawat? A Nuclear ARMY with 0.5 million men cant defeat few thousand radical TALIBANs. m m m m well something is fishy here. And you know what i mean . . read wikileaks , they;ll tell you what is the fishy point in it.

Daubic | 14 years ago | Reply If he want to find a solution via talks(which is nothing but tonnes of gas), then why the hell he requires an upgrade to his military with Drones and latest equipments. He should understand that Taliban, LET are nothing but extremists and have to be handled with iron hands. If they offer Olive branch, you know what would happen to your nation(similar to that happened before the military offensive started last year). At the end of the day, your bowl will also become empty with funds dried out. After all you are running your country with the funds collected from western countries.

maitreeslettres | 14 years ago | Reply Mr Asif Ali zardari, the agreement you referred to was not an agreement. If you follow the Karzai's government's course, you are not in the right direction because the 'Taliban in afghanistan' had ruled the country. They were thrown out by the Allied forces after 9/11. So, their cohabition with the Afghan government is a genuine case for Hamid Karzai's government failed to subject them to the law of the land. On the contrary, the Taliban in Pakistan have no standing. They do not even qualify for any political group as they have been hostile to every civic society, to religious institutions. If you had to dialogue with them, then why had you started 'Operation Rah-e-Najat' in Swat and Waziristan. You spent a lot of country's hard earned money on the operation. Why did you make your army and other law forces agencies personnels as well as innocent citizens slain? Besides, you claim that Swat and Waziristan has been cleared from such elements. Good news ! Then what's the use of a dialogue with anti-pakisatn remnants ?

Replying to X