Afghan peace process: ‘Prisoner exchange must be dealt with carefully’

Mian Iftikhar says differences must be ironed out between Taliban, Northern Alliance.

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain has said that any prisoner exchange between Pakistan and Afghanistan should be dealt with carefully to ensure it does not become a threat in the future.

While talking to journalists at a police rest house on Tuesday, he said that both countries need to understand and fulfil legal complexities if they want long-term stability in the region.

Hussain said that steps must be taken to iron out differences between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance before the peace talks to create a conducive environment for the US, Pakistan and Afghanistan to rid terrorism once and for all.

He emphasised the need for coordination of all stakeholders and took take a stern stance against militant factions unwilling to restore peace in the area.



“Despite threats we will continue to try and restore normalcy in K-P and the Federally  Administered Tribal Areas,” he said. The minister also spoke about Monday’s blast near the Awami National Party’s (ANP) rally in Charsadda saying that they had been on the ‘hit-list’ of militants for a long time.

He added that these attacks were meant to keep them from participating in the next election, but they were not afraid and were committed to rooting out militancy at any cost.

Hussain also said that him and other provincial ministers inquired after the victims of the Muharram blasts and their families, and gave Rs100,000 to the injured and Rs300,000 each to the heirs of those killed.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 12^th, 2012.