Maulana Samiul Haq speaks to Irfan Siddiqui after their meeting in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House in Islamabad. PHOTO: AFP
ISLAMABAD:
The government set out the rules of engagement in its maiden meeting with the three negotiators representing the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Thursday when it insisted that the talks be held within the purview of the constitution.
“Our first demand to the Taliban is submission to the Constitution of Pakistan,” said the government committee’s coordinator and prime minister’s adviser Irfan Siddiqui after the three-hour session with the TTP team.
The scope of peace talks needs to be limited to only the insurgency-affected areas — those parts of Fata where the state does not have effective control — of the country, was the government’s second demand of the five major points presented at the meeting.
The remaining demands were: immediate cessation of all activities that may affect the peace talks; the extent of the mandate of the Taliban committee (and whether the government side would have to interact with nine-member political Shura of Taliban) as well as finishing the talks in the shortest possible time.
For its part, the TTP committee wanted to know about the mandate of the government peace committee and whether it had the power to implement the Taliban’s demands. It also asked for a meeting with the prime minister, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) director-general.
On the question of the Taliban negotiators on the mandate of the government’s committee, the latter told them that the prime minister is overseeing the progress and they report to him daily.
Interestingly, there were some common interests and agreement. Both the committees wished to have a direct interaction with the Taliban and the government, respectively.
Overall, the first-ever interaction between the negotiators of two sides resulted in high hopes of success – even though it took place in overcast conditions.
Siddiqui referred to the meeting and the development over the last few days leading to it as “historic” and “memorable”. There were some apprehensions on both sides but during the meeting, “there was no difference of opinion,” he said. “It looked like both sides have the same opinion.”
Similarly, Maulana Samiul Haq expressed satisfaction with the meeting. “Both sides have agreed that there should not be any such incident which could derail the dialogue process,” he said.
“We are really happy that the Taliban committee has responded to us beyond our expectations and they have heard our reservations and told us their reservations with an open heart,” Siddiqui told reporters.
“We share the common goal of making this country peaceful in accordance with Islamic teaching. And I thank the Taliban committee for meeting us,” Siddiqui added.
Second round next week
The negotiators for the government and the Taliban will have a second round of peace talks within a week. The committee headed by Maulana Sami will travel to meet with the Taliban leadership and get back to the government with their demands.
Both the committees condemned the recent terrorist attacks in Peshawar and Karachi.
Nisar to meet PM Nawaz
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar is going to hold a crucial meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the next 48 hours to discuss a fresh strategy aimed at making the TTP talks productive and meaningful.
The interior minister will brief the premier on how the Pakistan Army can play its role in keeping spoilers away from the peace process.
As a key part of this fresh strategy, the government will ensure security of the government and TTP committees on their visit to Waziristan, interior ministry officials informed The Express Tribune.
Chaudhry Nisar made up his mind to hold such a meeting with the prime minister soon after receiving a phone call from Maulana Sami on Thursday, they added.
Sami sought the interior minister’s help pertaining to the security of the committee members who are likely to visit North Waziristan in the coming weeks.
The interior minister assured the TTP committee’s coordinator of his full cooperation to ensure that the talks make headway.
Nisar will also arrange meetings of the TTP’s intermediaries with the prime minister, army chief Gen Raheel Sharif and ISI director general Zaheerul Islam, officials said.
Maulana Sami will continue to brief the interior minister on the ongoing talks on a daily basis, officials added. (With additional input from news wires)
Published in The Express Tribune, February 7th, 2014.
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The State and nation of Pakistan have become a mere football between Sami and Fazal group of JUI; so much for "nuclear power!" What a complete capitulation to few armed thugs and their ringmaster maulvis. Sad but funny that maulvi Abdul Aziz Mazari, who escaped from Lal Masjid clad in a tent burka is scolding government and setting his own terms for negotiations!