Islamabad: A committee nominated by Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) for talks with the government suffered a setback as two of its five members bowed out of the panel on Monday a day after its announcement.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif last week constituted a four-member committee for talks with Taliban, urging militants to give up the path of violence and come to the negotiating table.
The TTP responded by naming its committee comprising Pakistan Tehreek-e- Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan and religious-political figures Maulana Samiul Haq, Professor Mohammad Ebrahim, Mufti Kifayatullah and Maulana Abdul Aziz.
The PTI core committee met in Islamabad on Monday and decided that Imran Khan would not become part of the TTP team. Khan had earlier voiced his reluctance to accept membership of the Taliban committee and said the outfit should have chosen people from its own ranks for the talks.
The Jamiat Ulema Islam-F (JUI-F) party also decided that its central leader Mufti Kifayatulllah, who had been named on the TTP committee, would not take up the role.
JUI chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman told the media that Kifayatullah was bound to follow the party decision.
Maulana Samiul Haq and two other members of the TTP-nominated committee, Professor Mohammad Ebrahim and Maulana Abdul Aziz, held a meeting here.
Haq, who chaired the meeting, told reporters he expected the PTI leader and others to help bring the prolonged conflict to an end and save the deeply troubled nation from further bloodshed.
He said procedure for dialogue would be decided when the two committees meet, adding that Taliban were yet to convey their demands. Officials said it has been decided the committees of the government and the TTP would hold their first meeting in Islamabad on Tuesday to kick off the dialogue process.
Prime Minister Sharif said on Monday that peace through dialogue is the best option for the country. Overcoming terrorism through talks is vital for Pakistan’s economic revival, the prime minister told journalists in Lahore, capital of Punjab province, a stronghold of his party.
He stressed that the government would hold talks with the TTP with all seriousness in order to establish peace and hoped that the interaction would yield positive results.
“Things are moving forward satisfactorily. Committees have been nominated and we are hopeful the process will gain momentum,” Sharif said.
The government team includes the prime minister’s adviser on national affairs Iran Siddiqui, veteran journalist Rahimullah Yusufzai, former ambassador to Afghanistan Rustam Shah and former ISI official, retired major Amir Shah.
