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TTP demands helicopter ride for their representatives' safety
ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR: The head of the caretaker committee of the Tehreek-e-Taliban, Qari Shakil, Wednesday said that the roads were too hazardous and a helicopter should be used to protect the dialogue committee from any danger.
"I do not want any force to harm them on their way or any kind of delay to take place in the holding of dialogue", said he.
According to sources, Qari Shakil made telephonic contact with a member of the Taliban committee Maulana Abdul Aziz, the Khateeb of Lal Masjid in Islamabad, and said that the TTP caretaker negotiation team was waiting for the arrival of the dialogue committees for an early initiation of peace talks.
Qari Shakil said that the Taliban wanted to start a meaningful and result-oriented dialogue as early as possible.
Maulana Aziz told Qari Shakil that he would inform the government committee about this threat. He said that he also wanted peaceful and meaningful dialogues should start as soon as possible so that the demands, reservations and doubts could be discussed.
While talking to Geo News, Maulana Aziz said that the verbal rhetoric should stop and a ceasefire must be observed for successful negotiations so that the atmosphere of dialogue could be made congenial.
The committees constituted by the government and Taliban agreed to hold talks within 72 hours in Islamabad and the clauses for the talks would be finalized.
The government sources revealed that both sides would give a written guarantee that they would not resort to any kind of violence against each other until something conclusive comes out of the peace process.
The Taliban-nominated committee would formulate their demands while remaining within the ambit of the Constitution and present the same to the government committee, which would put them before the prime minister for deliberation.
Sources said that the members of the two committees made contact with each other on Wednesday and decided to hold a meeting.
The two sides could not meet on Tuesday as the government-nominated committee had sought certain clarifications from the TTP committee regarding the latter’s mandate and composition after the refusal of Imran Khan and withdrawal of JUI-F’s Mufti Kifayatullah from the committee.
TTP’s central spokesman Shahidullah Shahid later clarified that only three members — Maulana Samiul Haq, Maulana Abdul Aziz and Prof Mohammad Ibrahim Khan — would now sit on the TTP negotiation committee and had the mandate and trust of the TTP.
The government-nominated committee, which includes Irfan Siddiqui, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister, Rustam Shah Mohmand, Major (retd) Mohammad Aamir and Rahimullah Yusufzai, had sought a few other clarifications, but it agreed to meet the TTP committee now that the Taliban had made it clear that it had the authority to hold talks with the government on their behalf.
Meanwhile, the government peace committee will also meet the DG ISI Lieutenant General Zaheerul Islam on Thursday. The meeting will discuss the progress in peace talks with the Taliban. The government committee will also meet the Army chief General Raheel Sharif after he returns from Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, following in the footsteps of the JUI-F and PTI, the JI also started moving towards a refusal to participate in the dialogue with the Taliban.
As such, the JI has maintained a mysterious silence over the issue, while Mian Aslam has merely limited his statement to “the JI is in favour of dialogue” only.
He further said that the final decision regarding JI’s Professor Ibrahim being part of the committee is subject to the approval of the party Ameer.
Sources said that many earlier ‘dialogue-oriented enthusiasts’ were slowly edging out of their vociferous support, each offering its own readily available excuse.
PTI’s Imran Khan bowed out with an excuse, saying “the Taliban had their own ideology and stance; hence they should elect their own representatives”, followed by JUI-F’s pulling out Mufti Kifayatullah over the reservations of “not being taken into confidence”, and ignoring the Jirga JUI wanted to form over the issue.
Journalists who contacted JI Ameer Syed Munawar Hussain during Wednesday’s Kashmir Day Rally were greeted with a simple “no comments”, after which he boarded a car and sped away.
Courtesy www.geo.tv