AKORA KHATTAK
Taliban negotiating team returned to Akora Khattak on Friday after holding talks with Taliban shura at an undisclosed location in North Waziristan.
Immediately on arrival in Akora Khattak, members of the team went into meeting with head of Taliban team Samiul Haq. They briefed him about talks with the Taliban shura.
Talking to reporters, TTP committee member Professor Ibrahim termed the meeting ‘positive’.
He said the government committee would be taken to NWA for direct talks with the TTP shura, adding that the Taliban interlocutors would also be present. He said the Taliban would present their demands before the government team during the meeting.
Earlier, during an interview with BBC, Samiul Haq said the negotiations have reached at a decisive stage and the government has formed a new committee for taking decisions. He said the Taliban would either dissolve the present negotiating team or include more members in it after progress in the negotiations.
The newly formed government committee includes Ports and Shipping Secretary Habibullah Khan Khattak, FATA Additional Chief Secretary Arbab Muhammad Arif, Additional Secretary to PM Fawad Hasan Fawad and PTI leader Rustam Shah Mohmand.