The next stage of peace talks should be held in Islamabad: Sirajul Haq
Haq says if federal government cannot arrange this, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government could facilitate the talks.
Express News screengrab shows Sirajul Haq addressign a gathering in Peshawar on April 3, 2014.
PESHAWAR:
The next stage of peace talks with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) should be held in Islamabad, the newly appointed chief of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Sirajul Haq said on Thursday.
“Maulana Samiul Haq, 80-year-old man, cannot be expected to go into the mountains to negotiate,” he said, adding that if the federal government could not arrange for this, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government could facilitate the talks.
Late last month, the government committee and the Taliban intermediaries visited an undisclosed location North Waziristan to meet the TTP Shura.
Background
The government and the Taliban are in a second round of talks which has been described by their interlocutors as ‘decisive’.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesperson Shahidullah Shahid was quoted as saying by a foreign news agency on April 2, that the group had not extended a month-long ceasefire but is still open to pursuing peace talks with the government.
The spokesperson said that some Taliban leaders had objected to extending the ceasefire, which lasted during the month of March.
The government on March 29 had managed to buy time from the Taliban’s intermediaries as the latter held out an assurance that the one-month ceasefire declared by the TTP early this month will hold post-March 31.
Peace talks to be reviewed soon
A meeting will be held soon to review the process of dialogue with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said on Thursday while addressing a gathering, Radio Pakistan reported. He expressed confidence that progress will be made in the peace talks.
The next stage of peace talks with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) should be held in Islamabad, the newly appointed chief of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Sirajul Haq said on Thursday.
“Maulana Samiul Haq, 80-year-old man, cannot be expected to go into the mountains to negotiate,” he said, adding that if the federal government could not arrange for this, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government could facilitate the talks.
Late last month, the government committee and the Taliban intermediaries visited an undisclosed location North Waziristan to meet the TTP Shura.
Background
The government and the Taliban are in a second round of talks which has been described by their interlocutors as ‘decisive’.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesperson Shahidullah Shahid was quoted as saying by a foreign news agency on April 2, that the group had not extended a month-long ceasefire but is still open to pursuing peace talks with the government.
The spokesperson said that some Taliban leaders had objected to extending the ceasefire, which lasted during the month of March.
The government on March 29 had managed to buy time from the Taliban’s intermediaries as the latter held out an assurance that the one-month ceasefire declared by the TTP early this month will hold post-March 31.
Peace talks to be reviewed soon
A meeting will be held soon to review the process of dialogue with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said on Thursday while addressing a gathering, Radio Pakistan reported. He expressed confidence that progress will be made in the peace talks.