The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has said it will not change its decision of withdrawing peace talks offer to the government for now, as “we are still mourning the killing of our deputy chief, Waliur Rehman Mehsud” in a US drone strike.
The TTP withdrew its dialogue offer to the new government a day after TTP spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan confirmed on May 30th that Waliur Rehman Mehsud was killed in the US drone strike in North Waziristan tribal region, along with six other militants.
According to a private TV channel, Ehsan had alleged the government’s cooperation with the US in the drone attacks, an allegation he reiterated on Sunday when asked if the TTP was willing to talk to the PML-N government.
When questioned on Sunday if the PML-N government directly or through any mediator contacted the Taliban for talks, Ehsan said no one had contacted them since the new government had taken over.
Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan on Sunday said the government was ready to pursue its commitment to talk to those militants who wanted to talk. However, he warned that the government would respond with force if the armed groups pursue ‘militancy and terrorism’.
The Taliban say they still standby their previous decision not to talk to the government.
“We are still in the state of shock at the martyrdom of our deputy chief and there is no change in decision of not to talk to the government,” the TTP spokesman told an English daily here.
The TTP had previously offered conditional peace talks to the PPP-led ruling coalition for the first time in February this year, however, then the government wanted the Taliban to lay down arms first.
The Taliban had attached conditions to their talks offer that included release of their senior negotiators and proposed PML-N President Nawaz Sharif, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl leader Fazlur Rehman and Jamaat-e-Islami chief Munawar Hasan as guarantors for the dialogue.
None of the three leaders had agreed to play the mediator role, but had pressed the former PPP government to hold talks with the militants.
Days after the PML-N emerged as the single largest party in the May 11 elections, Nawaz had stated that he would take the Taliban dialogue offer very seriously. However, there has been no progress so far and the US drone attacks made the possibility complicated.
“We had offered dialogue and wanted to talk to everyone, but the political government has no power and the powerful establishment has never shown seriousness to peace dialogue,” Ehsan told the paper.
To a question about the logic behind the Taliban decision to withdraw talks offer to the government in reaction to the US attack, he claimed that Taliban believe that “our state institutions are passing on 80 percent information to the Americans for drone attacks”.
To another question, Ehsan said the Taliban had appointed a new deputy chief but the name would not be disclosed for some time.
