Pakistan

Fazlur Rehman asks govt, military to authorise jirgas to negotiate with TTP

JUI-F chief says willingness to negotiate is a positive sign.

Web Desk February 04, 2013

A file photo of JUI-F leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman speaking to the media in Peshawar. PHOTO: NNI

ISLAMABAD: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, welcoming the peace-talks offer by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), said the government and military leadership should authorise tribal jirgas to negotiate.

The TTP signalled its willingness to enter peace negotiations on February 4 with the government if three senior politicians – Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) Chief Nawaz Sharif, the JUI-F chief and Jamaat-e-Islami amir Syed Munawar Hasan – would act as guarantors.

Fazl, while addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Monday, said the signals given by the group were “apparently positive”.

The JUI-F chief said a grand jirga of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) tribes can prove to be of great help in this process.

Earlier during the day, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said PML-N chief Nawaz had refused to act as an insurer.

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