Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) chief Fazlur Rehman on Monday welcomed the peace talks offer by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and said the government and military leadership should authorise tribal jirgas to negotiate. The TTP signalled its willingness to enter peace negotiations on February 4 with the government if three senior politicians – Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) Chief Nawaz Sharif, the JUI-F chief and Jamaat-e-Islami chief Syed Munawar Hasan – would act as guarantors. Fazl, while addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Monday, said the signals given by the group were “apparently positive”.The JUI-F chief said a grand jirga of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) tribes can prove to be of great help in this process. Earlier during the day, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said PML-N chief Nawaz had refused to act as an insurer.
