Awami National Party (ANP) President Asfandyar Wali Khan said that one of the sons of Jalaluddin Haqqani, leader of the Haqqani network, lives in Rawalpindi, confirming that the government was in touch with the Taliban in tribal areas for negotiations.
“I can confirm that the assassin of Burhanuddin Rabbani came from an Afghan immigrants’ camp in Balochistan,” Asfandyar Wali Khan said in an overnight interview with the local media.
Afghan High Peace Council chief Burhanuddin Rabbani was killed in a suicide bombing in the heart of Kabul’s diplomatic district by men reportedly posing as leading Taliban envoys in September this year.
“We are in touch with the Taliban in tribal areas for negotiations. We will negotiate with those who are driven by ideology and who have no political agenda,” he added.
Asfandyar, whose party is an ally of the Pakistan Peoples Party-led government, denied any clash between civil and military forces and was quick to defend Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s statements, seemingly criticizing the military.
The ANP chief also ruled out the possibility of a military takeover.
Asked about his party member Bushra Gohar’s statement that if Haqqani resigned so should DG ISI Ahmed Shuja Pasha, he said that the “DG ISI should not resign.”
