Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. PHOTO: FILE
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said on Friday that direct talks with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) will begin within the next few days.
“There is no deadlock on the venue. Direct talks will begin within the next few days,” he said in response to a question at a news briefing in Islamabad. He hinted that the TTP is likely to extend its ceasefire, which is due to expire by the end of this month. He did not share details.
The minister reiterated, however, that the government would take action against any group that tried to derail the peace process. “The government is committed to having talks with militants who want to join the peace process, but it will take action against saboteurs,” he added.
On the other hand, Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid said that the nation should expect positive results from the peace initiative. “We should not complicate the matter with undue speculation on the process,” he told journalists at the inaugural session of the ‘Regional Conference on Torture’ in Lahore.
At his news conference, meanwhile, Nisar said the National Crisis Management Cell, ‘whose secret fund was criminally misused by the previous government’, would be abolished.
In response to a question, he said work on appointing a grade 22 officer as the director general of the Federal Investigation Agency has been completed. “The appointment will be made in the coming days.
NADRA issues
Briefing reporters on the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), the organisation earned a profit of Rs420 million in January and Rs470 million in February.
He said NADRA has initiated a Rs342-million project in collaboration with UNHCR for the proof of residence (PoR) of Afghan refugees. The authority also signed an agreement worth Rs46.2 million for the provision of unique membership cards to members of the Punjab Bar Council, he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 22nd, 2014.
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