PESHAWAR
A member of Taliban negotiating team said issues will never be resolved until the army and the Taliban come in direct contact.
Talking to a private TV channel, Professor Ibrahim said the army never delegates its authority to anyone, adding that peace would be restored if the Pakistan Army and Taliban come in direct contact for a dialogue.
Questioning the government’s authority, he also said the public representatives had no authority. Ibrahim said that the Taliban could be persuaded for a ceasefire with the government despite airstrikes against them in tribal areas.
“Operation is not the solution. It will plunge the country into further turmoil,” he said.
He said a unilateral ceasefire was impossible, but if the government ensured, the committee can persuade Taliban for ceasefire.
On Wednesday, dozens of terrorists, most of them foreign mercenaries, were killed when air force jets pounded their hideouts in North Waziristan and Khyber Agency.
The air strikes set off speculations that the government has finally launched army operation in the tribal areas, but security officials said the attacks were ‘punitive strikes’.
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan hoped that the deadlock in govt-Taliban dialogues would end soon and the negotiations would soon be back on track.
