Islamabad: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif chaired the first meeting of a four-member committee set up by him to facilitate peace talks with Pakistani Taliban insurgents, directing the panel to start the process promptly, officials said.
Sharif announced Wednesday in the National Assembly his new bid to bring Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to the negotiating table after the previous attempt launched in September with support of all major political parties failed as militant continued deadly attacks.
The prime minister gave guidelines to the committee and defined its jurisdiction and the meeting discussed in detail a framework and strategy for talks with militants.
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar, who is the government’s focal person for the peace process, attended the meeting and the prime minister directed him to meet all requirements of the panel for carrying out its task.
The prime minister said the committee was fully empowered and that it should immediately establish contacts with those groups willing to hold talks.
Besides prominent columnist Irfan Siddiqui whom the prime minister recently appointed his special assistant on national affairs,the committee includes veteran journalist Rahimullah Yusufzai, former ambassador to Afghanistan Rustam Shah Mohmand and former ISI official, retired army major Amir Shah.
TTP, headed by Mullah Fazlullah, has reportedly welcomed the talks offer but said it would give a response after discussions by its ‘shura’ or consultative council in the coming days.
In its first message to TTP, the committee urged Taliban to complete their consultation process at the earliest and constitute a negotiating team for talks, Irfan Siddiqui told reporters.
He said the committee members sincerely want that there should be no delay in initiating the dialogue.
The committee has urged both the government and Taliban not to make any statement that could vitiate atmosphere for the dialogue, Siddiqui said, adding once talks start agenda would be decided.
In his address to the National Assemly, the prime minister had asked militants to stop terror attacks, saying talks and terrorism could not go on simultaneously.
Stressing that the war against terrorism has to be won at all costs, Sharif advised militants to give up the path of violence and refrain from forcing the government to use the option of full state might to establish peace.
Sharif’s move has drawn mixed reaction, with support coming mainly from Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf ruling northwestern Khyber Pakthunkhwa province, Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s Jamiat Ulema Islam and Jmaat e Islami headed by Syed Munnawar Hasan.
Critics question the composition of the committee and rule out possibility of Taliban insurgents agreeing to surrender weapons and to hold talks within the bounds of Pakistan constitution.
They point out that coinciding with Sharif’s announcement of the committee Taliban militants targeted paramilitary soldiers, killing at least three Rangers in separate bomb attacks in Karachi.
