Govt, army on the same page: Sami
ALI HUSSAIN & FAZAL SHER
ISLAMABAD: The government-nominated peace negotiators and their counterparts from the Taliban side on Wednesday agreed on another round of face-to-face interaction in the current week with central shura of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and decided to set up a sub-committee for addressing complaints from both sides.
This understanding was reached during a meeting of the two committees with Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan in the chair, in which the negotiators from both sides also called upon Taliban to extend the ceasefire and refrain from activities which may derail the ongoing peace process.
Talking to reporters following the meeting, Maulana Samiul Haq, the head of Taliban-nominated committee, said the sub-committee being set up today (Thursday), would comprise representatives of the committees, members of central and provincial governments as well as concerned departments.
The sub-committee would look into the concerns and complaints on certain issues from both the sides, he said, adding that the interior ministry would facilitate the members of the committee and also provide a helicopter if necessary to airlift them to tribal areas with a view to ascertaining the facts.
The Maulana said that Taliban have concerns regarding a continued crackdown against them despite the 40-day ceasefire and the government also has the similar complaints about the acts of violence. “The sub-committee would actually look into these concerns and ascertain the factual situation,” he said.
According to him, both the committees expressed satisfaction on the on-going dialogue process and noticed with pleasure the ‘fact’ that Taliban have not resorted to any major violence after the expiry of their ceasefire while the government also showed patience.
About the next round of direct talks with Taliban shura, he said the next round would take place in the current week while time and venue will be finalized after consultations with the Taliban.
Regarding the release of the noncombatant prisoners from both sides, he said that during upcoming direct talks with the Taliban, lists from both sides would be exchanged for possible release of the noncombatant detainees and efforts would be made for further confidence-building measures.
Responding to a query, he said that in Wednesday’s meeting they noted that the government and military are on the same page and they want to solve the problem through negotiations. “We are fully satisfied and today’s meeting further increased the level of our satisfaction that both the government and the military are on the same page insofar as the dialogue process is concerned,” he added. Prior to the meeting, Maulana Samiul Haq told media persons that there was no deadlock in the dialogue process and the delay in the meeting of both committees was due to busy schedule.
Sources said that Secretary Interior Shahid Khan briefed both the committees about the terrorist attacks that have been taken place following expiry of the ceasefire as well as the expected Taliban attacks based on the intelligence reports.
Earlier, Interior Minister briefed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif about latest developments and future strategy of the government related to a dialogue process with Taliban.
