Summary Taliban are on same page, even they are looking for supposed subgroup carrying attacks, he claimed.
MULTAN (Dunya News) – Taliban committee patron Maulana Samiul Haq said on Wednesday that there is no delay in negotiation process between government and Taliban. He said the dialogue venue is being deliberated upon adding that the decision about venue is likely to be taken today (Wednesday), Dunya News reported.
Addressing media personnel in Multan, Samiul Haq said that the nation should not be disappointed over negotiation process, adding that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is hopeful of successful negotiations despite ‘thousands of difficulties’. He claimed that Prime Minister believes military operation will not solve the problem.
Samiul Haq claimed that all groups of Taliban are on same page adding that even Taliban are looking for the supposed groups who claimed responsibility of recent terrorist attacks.
He said that the terrorist attacks in the country have reduced following the ceasefire.
If talks are held with sincerity, they will succeed, he said.
Taliban committee member Maulana Samiul Haq said that Taliban are not afraid of the government and that they just don’t want to hold negotiations process in government buildings whereas government members are reluctant to go to Waziristan.
He said that he will try to escort the government delegate to Waziristan. He further said that he hasn’t met with Prime Minister today (Wednesday).
It is pertinent to mention here that Samiul Haq had proposed the creation of a ‘peace zone’ to facilitate travel of negotiators for direct talks.
He also said that no list of prisoners has been provided to Taliban by the government.
Insurgency, dialogue or operation:
Pakistan is facing almost a decade old insurgency at the hands of Taliban factions grouped under umbrella of Tehrik-e-Taliban. The new governing parties including Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) and Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) had campaigned in elections in favour of resolving the years old conflict through dialogue.
The ruling party secured a vote of confidence in favour of dialogue through a session of All Parties Conference (APC) and to act on the recommendation upon willingness from Taliban, committees to represent both government and Taliban were formed and the process continued.
However, all negotiations stalled as a number of civilians and military personnel were brutalized whose responsibility was claimed by Taliban.
Following a number of air strikes by Pakistan military, Taliban agreed to a month-long ceasefire which was later reciprocated by the government.
Government also dissolved the existing committees emphasizing the need of moving forward the negotiations to next phase by restructuring the existing government committee to hold ‘direct talks’.
