Summary Military operation will not be needed, he hoped.
AKORA KHATTAK (Dunya News) – Taliban’s defunct committee patron Maulana Samiul Haq said on Friday that his role has helped open the doors of negotiations hoping that both parties will now resolve conflict on the table. “We are pushing government to fulfill Taliban’s demand of release of women and children,” he said.
Addressing press conference in Akora Khattak upon returning from North Waziristan, he said that the committee members have met Taliban Shura in a ‘pleasant environment’ at an undisclosed location adding that the purpose of this meeting was to pave way for direct talks between the government’s committee and Taliban Shura.
He said that the place to hold the meeting between the two parties will be determined in next couple of days. Taliban committee members will also accompany government’s committee in their meeting with Taliban, he added.
“We want both parties to sit face to face and present their demands to each other,” he said.
Samiul Haq said that his committee’s efforts have paved way for negotiations and that both Taliban and government should benefit from it.
“We are hoping things won’t resort to military operation,” he said.
Talking about Peshawar and Quetta explosions, he said that he has condemned these acts of terrorism claiming that external elements are trying to sabotage the negotiation process. He demanded of the government and intelligence agencies to expose those elements.
It merits mentioning here that Taliban and government had announced ceasefire earlier this month in a bid to farther the negotiation process. Following the ceasefire, government had eliminated the role of Taliban committee hinting of the direct dialogue between government and Taliban’s political Shura in Waziristan.
It was also reported that government is due to restructure its committee and that the new committee will have representation from military and prominent political leadership.
