Feeling the heat?: TTP ready to negotiate, but not disarm

Hakimullah Mehsud accuses the govt of reneging on earlier peace agreements.

PESHAWAR:

While the Awami National Party, a coalition partner of the government, is pushing for decisive action against militants, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) said on Friday it is willing to negotiate peace but disarmament is out of the question.

“We believe in dialogue but it should not be frivolous. Asking us to lay down arms is a joke,” said TTP chief Hamikullah Mehsud in a 40-minute video message made available to The Express Tribune. 

Hakimullah has been in hiding since he survived a US drone strike in South Waziristan Agency in 2010.

The video release came days after the ANP said that it was willing to negotiate with Taliban insurgents if they renounced violence and accepted the writ of the state.

It also follows three high-profile Taliban attacks in Peshawar this month: an attack by multiple suicide bombers on the airport, the killing of senior politician Bashir Bilour and eight others in a bombing and the kidnapping of 22 Levies personnel on Thursday.

Hakimullah, however, alleged that the government had not regarded past negotiations with the Taliban “seriously enough”. “We have made agreements with the government; however Pakistan has consistently violated them,” he said.

He said that although he was open to dialogue, the government was to blame for the violence because it broke previous, unspecified deals.

Earlier, in a letter released on Thursday, the TTP said it wanted Pakistan to rewrite its constitution in accordance to Islamic law, break its alliance with the United States, stop interfering in the war in Afghanistan and focus on India instead.



Quashing rumours

In the video, Hakimullah sits cradling a rifle next to his deputy, Waliur Rehman and spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan. Military officials say there has been a split between the two men but Hakimullah said that was propaganda.

“Waliur Rehman is sitting with me here and we will be together until death,” said Hakimullah, pointing at his companion.

Bilour’s assassination

Regarding the assassination of Bashir Bilour, the TTP chief threatened that the ANP, to which Bilour belonged, would continue to be a target along with other politicians.

“Our fight is not against any individual; it is an ideological battle. Bilour was an active anti-Taliban leader who sanctioned military action against the Taliban. That had made him a legitimate target,” he said.

Hakimullah warned that their ideological battle would continue, regardless of which party assumed office after the upcoming elections. “We are against the democratic system because it is un-Islamic. Our war isn’t against any party. It is against the non-Islamic system and anyone who supports it.”

The PPP coalition government will step down early next year after the completion of its five-year constitutional term and fresh elections will be held in spring.

The ANP has decided to evolve a national consensus for a decisive military action against “terrorist sanctuaries” in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and adjoining tribal regions.

Ties with Afghan Taliban

The question of TTP’s role after Nato troops pullout from Afghanistan was answered succinctly by Hakimullah.

He vowed his allegiance to the Taliban spiritual leader Mullah Mohammad Umar saying that, “We will follow the decisions of our Ameer (leader), as there is no difference between Afghan Taliban, Pakistani Taliban and al Qaeda.” (With additional input from Reuters)

Published in The Express Tribune, December 29^th, 2012.