Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-S) Ameer Maulana Samiul Haq, who also heads the Taliban negotiating committee, said on Monday that the list of prisoners whom the Taliban want freed had been received and would soon be discussed.
Talking to reporters in the federal capital, Maulana Sami said the Taliban’s announcement of a month-long ceasefire should be taken as a blessing and all women, children and elderly in government captivity should be released.
He said the whole nation was united for peace talks and that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had shown political maturity over the issue. He also said that the government’s negotiating committee had made efforts to end the deadlock existing between the government and the Taliban mediating committees.
He said the Taliban’s condemnation of Islamabad attack was a welcome gesture, adding that the approach of the group was also commendable.
The JUI-S chief said public sentiment was taken into consideration by deciding to hold talks and negotiations should reach their logical conclusion.
Sami also said that every attack should not be attributed to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), adding that the outlawed militant organisation would have to dissociate itself from all terror attacks taking place in the country.
He also said that enemies of the country would keep carrying out attacks to derail the negotiations and peace talks would have to be protected against internal and external conspiracies.
