ISLAMABAD:
Contrasting statements emerged from the government over the release of
Taliban prisoners on Thursday as the Prime Minister’s House denied
ordering any such move, while the Interior Ministry confirmed the
release of 19 non-combatant detainees.
The Interior Ministry spokesman said 19 non fighting Taliban, belonging to the Mehsud tribe, had been released from different jails of the country. The spokesman said three Taliban were freed on March 21, five on March 25 and 11 were released on March 28.
The spokesman said they were arrested on suspicion of involvement in terrorist activities on intelligence reports. “This is a mutual decision of the government and armed forces that innocent people who were not involved in terrorist activities would be released after investigation,” the spokesman said.
Earlier, in the day, the Prime Minister’s House denied the release of the Taliban prisoners. In a statement, the PM House said no authorisation had been given from the prime minister in this regard. It said the release of some prisoners involved in petty crimes by the political administration had been wrongly termed as release of Taliban prisoners.
Mushtaq Yusufzai adds from Peshawar: Official sources on Thursday said that the government had freed 16 low-level suspected militants belonging to the Mehsud tribe in the militancy-affected South Waziristan Agency.
Senior government officials said the men had been arrested by the law-enforcement agencies on suspicion during raids in Wana and Tiarza subdivision two years ago.The news was flashed by the local TV channels and was widely covered by the national and international media.
It generated a controversy after Political Agent South Waziristan Islam Zeb Khan reportedly told some journalists that they had released 16 militants. However, he backtracked on his statement when this correspondent approached him on the phone.
“What the media has reported is not true. The security forces had taken these people into custody during search operations in South Waziristan but the security agencies after interrogation declared them white, meaning they were innocent. They handed them over to the political administration and thus we freed them after fulfilling all the security procedures,” Political Agent Islam Zeb Khan explained.
He argued that their release was not linked to demands of the Taliban militants, who had been asking the government to free their non-combatant prisoners.A senior government official said on condition of anonymity that these men were taken into custody two years ago on suspicion of having links with the militants.
He said the suspected militants were brought to the Zari Noor Army Camp in Wana, the headquarters of South Waziristan, and handed over to the political administration.“Actually, the statement of the political agent created confusion in the media as he was not aware of the situation. It was decided by the government and Taliban negotiation committees that all the non-combatant prisoners should be released. It is a set process that the military hands over people to the political administration for release,” he maintained.
Some reports said that tribal cleric and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islami-Fazl (JUI-F) Senator from South Waziristan Maulana Saleh Shah played a role in the release of the Mehsud tribesmen. When contacted, Senator Saleh Shah said he had called the political agent to argue that there was no justification in holding the suspects in custody after the military had declared them innocent.
“Some people informed me about this issue. I contacted the political agent to ask him to release these people on my guarantee. All of them were Mehsud tribesmen and had nothing to do with the militants,” Saleh Shah told this correspondent on phone from Islamabad.
Some of the suspected militants freed were identified as Abdullah Jan Mehsud, Mir Jan Mehsud, Samad Khan, Bacha Gul, Abdul Aziz, Noor Zada, Saddam Hussain, Ziauddin Khan, Sherpao, Raza Ali and Iqbal Khan.
The Pakistani Taliban said they had heard about the release of the 16 Mehsud men through the media but they were not in a position to confirm if their names were included in the 800-member civilian prisoners’ list given to the government.
“We came to know about their release on Thursday evening. There was no way we could have confirmed if their names were on the list we had sent to the government. We have convened a meeting on Friday (today) to check it and then discuss other matters related to the suspended peace talks,” a senior leader of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) said.
Pleading anonymity, he said though the duration of one-month ceasefire had expired on March 31, they were still abiding by it as long as the peace talks were underway with the government.
Rustam Shah Mohmand, member of the government negotiation committee and former chief secretary, welcomed the step and said that hopefully it would be in favour of the peace process.
“There was a consensus that if there was no proof against the prisoners in jails, they should be released whether the Taliban demanded it or not,” he told this correspondent.Rustam Shah Mohmand said he was not aware if the names of the freed men were part of the Taliban’s list of civilian prisoners. He said it might remove suspicion from the minds of the militants about the government intentions.
He said efforts were underway for the second face-to-face meeting with the TTP political Shura members to discuss with them an extension in the ceasefire and lifting the ban on anti-polio campaign in the tribal areas.
The Interior Ministry spokesman said 19 non fighting Taliban, belonging to the Mehsud tribe, had been released from different jails of the country. The spokesman said three Taliban were freed on March 21, five on March 25 and 11 were released on March 28.
The spokesman said they were arrested on suspicion of involvement in terrorist activities on intelligence reports. “This is a mutual decision of the government and armed forces that innocent people who were not involved in terrorist activities would be released after investigation,” the spokesman said.
Earlier, in the day, the Prime Minister’s House denied the release of the Taliban prisoners. In a statement, the PM House said no authorisation had been given from the prime minister in this regard. It said the release of some prisoners involved in petty crimes by the political administration had been wrongly termed as release of Taliban prisoners.
Mushtaq Yusufzai adds from Peshawar: Official sources on Thursday said that the government had freed 16 low-level suspected militants belonging to the Mehsud tribe in the militancy-affected South Waziristan Agency.
Senior government officials said the men had been arrested by the law-enforcement agencies on suspicion during raids in Wana and Tiarza subdivision two years ago.The news was flashed by the local TV channels and was widely covered by the national and international media.
It generated a controversy after Political Agent South Waziristan Islam Zeb Khan reportedly told some journalists that they had released 16 militants. However, he backtracked on his statement when this correspondent approached him on the phone.
“What the media has reported is not true. The security forces had taken these people into custody during search operations in South Waziristan but the security agencies after interrogation declared them white, meaning they were innocent. They handed them over to the political administration and thus we freed them after fulfilling all the security procedures,” Political Agent Islam Zeb Khan explained.
He argued that their release was not linked to demands of the Taliban militants, who had been asking the government to free their non-combatant prisoners.A senior government official said on condition of anonymity that these men were taken into custody two years ago on suspicion of having links with the militants.
He said the suspected militants were brought to the Zari Noor Army Camp in Wana, the headquarters of South Waziristan, and handed over to the political administration.“Actually, the statement of the political agent created confusion in the media as he was not aware of the situation. It was decided by the government and Taliban negotiation committees that all the non-combatant prisoners should be released. It is a set process that the military hands over people to the political administration for release,” he maintained.
Some reports said that tribal cleric and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islami-Fazl (JUI-F) Senator from South Waziristan Maulana Saleh Shah played a role in the release of the Mehsud tribesmen. When contacted, Senator Saleh Shah said he had called the political agent to argue that there was no justification in holding the suspects in custody after the military had declared them innocent.
“Some people informed me about this issue. I contacted the political agent to ask him to release these people on my guarantee. All of them were Mehsud tribesmen and had nothing to do with the militants,” Saleh Shah told this correspondent on phone from Islamabad.
Some of the suspected militants freed were identified as Abdullah Jan Mehsud, Mir Jan Mehsud, Samad Khan, Bacha Gul, Abdul Aziz, Noor Zada, Saddam Hussain, Ziauddin Khan, Sherpao, Raza Ali and Iqbal Khan.
The Pakistani Taliban said they had heard about the release of the 16 Mehsud men through the media but they were not in a position to confirm if their names were included in the 800-member civilian prisoners’ list given to the government.
“We came to know about their release on Thursday evening. There was no way we could have confirmed if their names were on the list we had sent to the government. We have convened a meeting on Friday (today) to check it and then discuss other matters related to the suspended peace talks,” a senior leader of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) said.
Pleading anonymity, he said though the duration of one-month ceasefire had expired on March 31, they were still abiding by it as long as the peace talks were underway with the government.
Rustam Shah Mohmand, member of the government negotiation committee and former chief secretary, welcomed the step and said that hopefully it would be in favour of the peace process.
“There was a consensus that if there was no proof against the prisoners in jails, they should be released whether the Taliban demanded it or not,” he told this correspondent.Rustam Shah Mohmand said he was not aware if the names of the freed men were part of the Taliban’s list of civilian prisoners. He said it might remove suspicion from the minds of the militants about the government intentions.
He said efforts were underway for the second face-to-face meeting with the TTP political Shura members to discuss with them an extension in the ceasefire and lifting the ban on anti-polio campaign in the tribal areas.
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