ISLAMABAD:
Member of the Taliban committee Prof Ibrahim said on Wednesday the
Taliban had alleged that troops, helicopters and artillery were being
deployed in North Waziristan and the outlawed group had demanded that
this activity be contained.
He said that arrangements
for holding the peace talks were underway and he had contacted Taliban
Shura member Azam Tariq in order to decide a time and place to hold the
talks.He dispelled the impression that the talks process was approaching
a deadlock or that distances were increasing between the two sides.
Ibrahim
said the Taliban had objections not only overthe movement of the army
but also on the use of helicopters and mortar shells. It may be noted
here that three people, including a security personnel, were killed when
a vehicle of the army hit a landmine some days ago. Following the
incident, the army had targeted the hideouts of militants with three
helicopters.
In a meeting on April 23, both the
government and the TTP committees decided to form a sub-committee to
address the reservations of all stakeholders and Maulana Yousaf Shah was
working over it, he maintained.
He said the government
and the army were on the same page but not on the same line on the issue
of talks with the Taliban. “It is said that the government and military
are on the same page. If so, we accept it. But some people say they are
on the same page but not on the same line,” he said addressing a
ceremony here and later talking to media men on Wednesday.
“Too
many efforts were made for an extension in the ceasefire but success
could not be achieved because the Taliban and government were facing
certain difficulties,” he said. He said the Taliban should stop
targeting the army and other security agencies while the army should end
the war against the Taliban because, according to him, this was a war
between two brothers. “We have our relatives in the army as well as in
the Taliban. Peace will prevail in the country if both sides stop
targeting each other,” he said.
If someone has
reservations on the matter of release of prisoners, he should lodge a
complaint with the government rather than the media, he said adding if
all the stakeholders took part in direct negotiations, then a solution
to the problems could be found.
He stated that the
Taliban will accept the Constitution if the implementation process of
Islamic clauses of the Constitution was started. He held that the
statement given by him with reference to Prime Minister Mian Nawaz
Sharif had given rise to certain misperceptions. “I hold PM Nawaz Sharif
in high esteem. The PM is playing a vital and positive role in talks
with Taliban. But whenever a mention is made anywhere about terrorism,
Musharraf is also named there. It is but natural that one becomes
emotional when such matters come and one’s tongue slips. Perhaps such
thing has happened with me. But it is crystal clear that the country is
in a mess due to Pervez Musharraf who put the country on the verge of
destruction and allowed the tyrannical US troops to pass through,” he
added. He added: “If Musharraf goes abroad, then we will seek an
explanation from PM Nawaz Sharif at all costs.”
