Peace talks today after yesterday’s rain delay

• Prof Ibrahim says efforts being made for permanent ceasefire with govt

The first face-to-face meeting between the government committee and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Shura will likely be held today (Wednesday)somewhere in North Waziristan if the weather conditions allow.

The Tuesday meeting was postponed due to bad weather conditions.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief and intermediary of Taliban talks committee Professor Mohammad Ibrahim confirmed that talks between the two sides were postponed for Wednesday as it was not possible travelling in bad weather.

About the talks’ venue, he said that it was not clear however it could be in town of Mir Ali in North Waziristan in Orakzai Agency or Bannu.

The professor said that declaration of ceasefire from TTP was a major breakthrough for the political process and the TTP intermediaries were making efforts to convert the month-long ceasefire into permanent peace agreement. If negotiations take a long time, then the first step would be to extend ceasefire, he said.

Ibrahim said further that the negotiation on prisoners between the government and the Taliban would be very beneficial for peace talks. “We had handed over non-combatant prisoners’ list to Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar, but he is yet to respond”, Ibrahim said.

“They have also put up the issue of prisoners in the militants’ custody including former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s son Syed Ali Haider Gilani, slain Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer’s son Shahbaz Taseer and Islamia College University (ICU) Vice Chancellor Ajmal Khan, but they are waiting for the meeting,” he added.

The much-anticipated direct talks would be attended by all four members of the government’s reconfigured negotiating committee, TTP intermediaries and members of the TTP Shura.

Another member of TTP’s committee, Yousaf Shah, said that the situation in Pakistan was still perilous and that ‘hidden hands’ were taking advantage of it. Dialogue is the only solution to conflict and the peace process will hopefully lead to restoration of peace in the country, he concluded.

On March 24, the government had finalised its strategy at a meeting attended by the government negotiators, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General Lt Gen Zaheerul Islam.