Afghan peace talks: Maulana Fazlur Rehman flies to Qatar

The JUI-F chief will discuss the peace process with the Afghan Taliban.

NOWSHERA:

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman flew to Qatar on Saturday ahead of a crucial round of negotiations between the Afghan Taliban and the government in Kabul.

JUI-F leader Hafiz Hussain Ahmad confirmed this while addressing a condolence ceremony organised by Milli Yakjehti Council for the deceased Jamaat-e-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad.

Ahmad said his party’s leader had agreed to make the trip on a special invitation to attend the nascent dialogue process.

The JUI-F chief, according to Ahmed, will discuss the peace process with the Afghan Taliban, adding that negotiations were the best way forward to restore peace in the war-ravaged country.

Similarly, he said, Islamabad should also accept the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan’s latest peace overture and engage the militia in fruitful negotiations. “If this opportunity is lost, it will badly affect the law and order [situation] in the country,” Ahmad said.

Speaking on the Awami National Party’s (ANP) endorsement for a multi-party conference on terrorism, the JUI-F leader said that if the ANP was serious about dialogue with the Taliban, then their leaders should convince the federal government to take up the Taliban offer without delay.

“The Taliban are sincere in talks [and] so are the mediators, then why [is] the government and army silent over the issue?” asked Ahmad. However, in order to start a constructive dialogue, a truce agreement would have to be in place, he said.

“All parties are serious about initiating the dialogue process but neither the federal and provincial governments nor the military have declared their intent,” Ahmad added.

The JUI-F leader said the government should have nominated its representatives by now if it wished to restore peace.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 10^th, 2013.