Peace talks: TTP reacts to premier’s initiative

TTP Shura will carefully assess and consider PM’s decision of forming this committee.

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Peace can be achieved if dialogue is carried out in every sense of the word, avoiding blame games and politics of deception, said Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesperson Shahidullah Shahid on Wednesday.

Welcoming Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s decision to form a four-member committee for talks with the TTP, the spokesperson reminded that the peace accords of Swat and Wana, South Waziristan, should be kept in mind if dialogue is to be pursued.

In a statement to the media after the government’s announcement, he reiterated that the TTP had always wanted to resolve disputes through dialogue. “However, the governments of Musharraf and Zardari had used talks as a cover for using force, which is why negotiations failed,” he added. Therefore, it is imperative that certain measures be taken that create a conducive environment for peace and dialogue, said Shahidullah Shahid.

“The organisation has shown time and again that we are very serious about dialogue as we have received emissaries of the government well and responded to them accordingly.” He rebuffed ‘the propaganda’ that TTP chief Maulana Fazlullah was not in favour of talks.

The TTP Shura will sit to carefully assess and consider Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s decision of forming this committee and will make its decision public through the media, the statement concluded.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th, 2014.