Taliban talks losing steam

ISLAMABAD

Though Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday reiterated his government’s resolve to carry forward the dialogue process with the banned terror outfit, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the government’s own negotiators think that the government has left the talks half-way without taking them to a logical end.
On March 25, the government’s negotiators had a meeting with the TTP Shura which ended with lots of hopes but since then there is no headway in the talks process.
“It seems that the government has lost interest in the dialogue process now. No one has contacted me since at least a fortnight. No direct or indirect contact has been made with me despite the fact that I am negotiating on behalf of the government, what to talk about the negotiators representing the other side,” a government negotiator told Pakistan Today, requesting not to be named due to sensitivity of the matter. He added that neither the interior minister nor any of his deputies had contacted him for further deliberations on the peace process.
Asked whether he had any idea which demand from the Taliban had made the government grow cold or whether in-house deliberations had been continuing over demands from the militants, the negotiator said that he had no clue what was cooking in the government’s mind.
Another government negotiator said that the “mysterious silence” on part of the government was making the situation further complex and confused.
“Though I have been in Peshawar for several days just to help the peace process, I am unaware of any headway as no one contacted me,” the negotiator said.
Asked if he had contacted Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan about the future strategy, the negotiator said that the government should contact him as it was not his responsibility to contact the government. “I am facilitating the talks process without any vested interest. So it’s the responsibility of the government to contact me and not mine,” he added.
The TTP has refused to extend the ceasefire after a 40-day lull in violence. However, the TTP spokesman resolved to continue dialogue with the government.
The negotiator said despite the fact that the TTP had announced not to extend the ceasefire with the government, no attack from the Taliban reflected that they wanted the peace process to move forward. He said that trust deficit was the major factor behind the stalemate in talks.
The negotiator said that an immediate meeting with the TTP Shura was mandatory to carry the dialogue process forward.
“The TTP Shura, despite being engaged in resolving the infighting among them was willing to hold a meeting with the government negotiators but the delay has caused a major blow to the process,” he said.
About the agenda of the possible meeting with TTP Shura, the government committee mediator said that the government negotiators would now focus on extending the ceasefire.
Rustam Shah Mohmand, a member of the government’s negotiating panel, had told the media recently that the trust deficit and deadlock could still be avoided by putting the things on fast track.
“We can win back the trust to extend truce and other matters by holding an immediate meeting,” said Mohmand.
The TTP announced its first truce on March 1 for one month and later extended it till April 10 on April 4.
The pro-peace and anti-peace TTP groups, which are currently engaged in the infighting, might not spare time for a crucial meeting with the government negotiation committee, he said.
It is relevant to mention that the government has freed around 23 Taliban prisoners detained by the security forces aiming to build trust with the militants. However, there was no word whether those released were Taliban combatants.
A breakthrough in dialogue was being linked to possible release of Peshawar Islamia College University Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Ajmal, as well as the sons of late Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer and former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani who had been abducted by the TTP.