After a tiff govt, TTP panels fail to hold exploratory session

Hold separate meetings; TTP endorses its three-member team, after which govt seeks to meet on Feb 6.

ISLAMABAD:

The highly anticipated exploratory interaction between government negotiators and the Taliban intermediaries hit a snag on Tuesday when the former decided it wanted some things clarified before sitting at the negotiating table.

The two sides were supposed to meet at 2pm at Jamaat-e-Islami’s Islamabad office to formulate a roadmap before the start of formal talks. However, Irfan Siddiqui, the coordinator of the government’s four-member committee, approached JUI-S chief Maulana Samiul Haq to ask for a series of explanations: How many members comprise the TTP’s committee? What is their mandate? And whether the TTP would replace Imran Khan and Mufti Kifayatullah? PTI Chairman Imran Khan and JUI-F’s Mufti Kifayatullah were initially nominated for the TTP committee but they later excused themselves.

The clarification was sought after the government committee gathered at the PM Secretariat on Tuesday before the 2pm scheduled meeting, during which they discussed many matters, including the TTP’s negotiating team and two of the proposed members dissociating themselves.

Officials say the government deliberately picked on these issues so that the Taliban could not demand the replacement of the two members once the process formally starts.

However, the government’s move inevitably postponed the talks, which irked the other side. The JUI-S chief criticised the government and alleged that it was not serious. Commenting on the postponement of the meeting, he told the media, “The US pressure on the government is hindering the negotiations.”

He said that certain powers did not want peace in Pakistan. “The government’s committee should have come to the meeting even if for only two minutes.”

“It is the responsibility of the government to hold peace talks and so they should have contacted us first,” he said, adding that the TTP committee waited for two hours for the government’s team, wondering whether it will show up or not.

However, he said the committee is open for talks and clarified that “the TTP committee will [only] have three members and it has full mandate”.

Later, the TTP reposed confidence in the three-member committee – now comprising Maulana Samiul Haq, Maulana Abdul Aziz and Professor Ibrahim – to hold talks with the government on their behalf.

Soon after the talks were postponed, TTP spokesperson Shahidullah Shahid issued a prompt endorsement of the now three-member committee and announced that the team would go ahead with the talks.

Journalist Rahimullah Yousufzai, member of the government’s negotiating team, contacted JUI-S spokesperson Maulana Yousaf Shah to convey that they were ready to meet Maulana Samiul Haq at his convenience – anytime and anywhere. He clarified to Maulana Yousaf that the government negotiators have not refused to meet the Taliban committee, but only wanted some clarifications, he told The Express Tribune.

“The Taliban have now removed one confusion about the number of members in their committee, but we still want to know if the Taliban committee has powers and what decisions can its member take,” he said. “We also want information on whether the Taliban’s nine-member Political Shura, which is assigned to monitor the dialogue process, will meet with us or not,” he said, adding, “We wish to meet them.”

However, Maulana Yousaf informed Yousufzai that the JUI-S chief had already left Islamabad for his hometown, Akora Khattak.

But now the government wants to meet with the TTP’s intermediaries on February 6, after the country observes Kashmir Day on February 5 (today).  According to officials, the government representatives are willing to go to Akora Khattak. However, Maulana Sami and his team say that they will agree to meet them after holding discussions with the Taliban leadership.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 5^th, 2014.