PESHAWAR:
For the first time in 10 years, direct peace talks were held between the
government and the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Orakzai Agency on
Wednesday.
The talks were mainly focused on an extension in the ceasefire and release of non-combatant detainees.The face-to-face meeting lasting seven hours was held in the Bilandkhel area in Spin Thall in the Orakzai tribal region near the boundary with North Waziristan and the Kurram tribal regions. Sources said a consensus could not be developed during the talks on the host of issues that were discussed.
The venue of the talks was kept secret and the media kept speculating the whole day that the talks were being held in North Waziristan. However, The News had correctly predicted a day ahead that the talks would be held in Spin Thall, Bilandkhel in Orakzai Agency.
Five TTP central Shura members took part in the talks, although the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-S) head Maulana Samiul Haq, who is head of the TTP-nominated negotiations committee, said eight Shura members were present. The elderly Maulana Samiul Haq also attended the meeting.
The four government negotiators led by Secretary Ports and Shipping Habibullah Khan Khattak and the three TTP negotiations committee members headed by Maulana Samiul Haq were first flown in two separate helicopters to Thall town in Hangu district and then driven in vehicles to Bilandkhel in Orakzai Agency. The three other government negotiators were Fawad Hasan Fawad, an Additional Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office, Additional Chief Secretary Fata Arbab Muhammad Arif and Rustam Shah Mohmand, a retired bureaucrat who served as chief secretary of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and ambassador to Afghanistan and is a nominee of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in the committee.
The TTP-nominated negotiators Professor Muhammad Ibrahim Khan, who is provincial head of the Jamaat-e-Islami, and Maulana Yousaf Shah, who is an aide to Maulana Samiul Haq and is coordinator of the committee, also attended the talks.
The TTP Shura was represented in the talks by Qari Shakil, who belongs to Mohmand Agency, Azam Tariq, who is from the Mehsud tribe in South Waziristan, Qari Bashir, Dr Hussain, who is a pharmacist and cleric, and a fifth person whose name could not be ascertained. Maulana Yousaf Shah and Prof Ibrahim had earlier said that Maulana Zakir too would be representing the TTP Shura, but it wasn’t clear if he attended the meeting on Wednesday.
According to sources, the meeting took place at the house of Mohammad Jamil, a retired subedar of the Levies. The Bilandkhel area is inhabited by the Bangash tribe.After welcoming the government negotiators, the TTP Shura members asked them whether they had been fully empowered and had the authority to make decisions.
“At this stage, the members of the government committee phoned Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and informed him about the question posed by the Taliban. After speaking to the minister, the committee members came back and told the TTP Shura members that they had the power to make decisions,” said an insider of the meeting.
Pleading anonymity, he said formal talks then started between the two sides and the first session continued till noon. He said the talks were suspended for lunch and prayers and then continued till the evening. “Both sides carefully listened to each other for seven hours,” the source said.
Senior members of the Taliban alleged that the government had failed in showing sincerity in talks.
“After announcing a ceasefire on March 1, we made three demands from the government and the government agreed with us. We demanded a separate peace zone in the tribal areas where we could live and easily move. Second, we asked for the immediate release of our non-combatant prisoners, including women, children and elderly people. They are not militants but were taken into custody for being relatives of the militants. The third demand was for an end to the extra-judicial killing of TTP prisoners in jails,” a senior member of the Taliban told The News on condition of anonymity.
He said they were happy that there has been a considerable decline in the extra-judicial killing of their jailed members, but the government didn’t fulfil its commitment regarding the designation of a peace zone and release of non-combatant prisoners.
“We admit that the extra-judicial killing of our people has stopped but they are being tortured since the start of the peace talks,” the Taliban commander alleged, adding that even then they decided to continue the peace process.
He said they had already delivered a list of 300 of their non-combatant prisoners to the Taliban negotiations committee, which handed it over to the government. He added that most of the civilian prisoners belong to Swat and other places in Malakand Division.
“Some of our people actually didn’t want to stop fighting against the government. We persuaded them and asked them to give us names of their prisoners. It made them happy and they stopped fighting. But now when they realise that the government was not going to free their people, they will not care about the ceasefire,” the TTP commander noted.
Another TTP commander in North Waziristan also said there was no breakthrough in the first round of talks with the government committee because the government did not take steps that could make the negotiations fruitful.
“We sincerely started this peace process despite the opposition of some of our people, but now only the government can make it productive,” he said.Wishing not to be named, he said they have decided to extend the ceasefire till the talks continued.
Meanwhile, the members of the Taliban negotiations committee led by Maulana Samiul Haq returned to Peshawar on Wednesday evening after the end of the direct talks and spoke to the media.
Talking to reporters, Maulana Samiul Haq termed the first direct meeting between the two sides as a great success and said they would continue their efforts till the logical conclusion of the talks.
“The ice has melted. Both sides sat together. They attentively listened to each other and gave positive signal for the success of the talks,” he said. He added that the two sides would meet again after two days.
Prof Ibrahim said after succeeding in making the ceasefire on March 1 they had now been successful in bringing the two sides to the negotiation table. “This is no doubt a great success and the nation would soon hear good news,” he remarked.
He said that the war and lawlessness that continued for more than 10 years have made the life of the people miserable. He expressed optimism that peace would be restored soon and the efforts that both the sides have been making would bear fruit. He urged the people to pray for the success of the talks and restoration of peace in the country.
Online adds: At the conclusion of the first direct talks between the Taliban and the official committee, it has been decided that the ceasefire would be extended and prisoners be released besides ensuring continued negotiations between the warring groups.
In a statement, the Taliban spokesman Shahidullah Shahid announced that a request was also submitted by the Taliban to restrict the army troops’ movement in order to facilitate the Taliban’s routine activities. The government has so far not responded to this request.
After the conclusion of the dialogue, the Taliban committee proceeded to an unknown destination, while the official committee would be submitting its report to Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan after which further rounds of dialogue would be planned.Sources said the issue of the newly surfaced Taliban faction named Ahrarul Hind also cropped up during the meeting. The Taliban assured they would investigate the issue.
The talks were mainly focused on an extension in the ceasefire and release of non-combatant detainees.The face-to-face meeting lasting seven hours was held in the Bilandkhel area in Spin Thall in the Orakzai tribal region near the boundary with North Waziristan and the Kurram tribal regions. Sources said a consensus could not be developed during the talks on the host of issues that were discussed.
The venue of the talks was kept secret and the media kept speculating the whole day that the talks were being held in North Waziristan. However, The News had correctly predicted a day ahead that the talks would be held in Spin Thall, Bilandkhel in Orakzai Agency.
Five TTP central Shura members took part in the talks, although the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-S) head Maulana Samiul Haq, who is head of the TTP-nominated negotiations committee, said eight Shura members were present. The elderly Maulana Samiul Haq also attended the meeting.
The four government negotiators led by Secretary Ports and Shipping Habibullah Khan Khattak and the three TTP negotiations committee members headed by Maulana Samiul Haq were first flown in two separate helicopters to Thall town in Hangu district and then driven in vehicles to Bilandkhel in Orakzai Agency. The three other government negotiators were Fawad Hasan Fawad, an Additional Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office, Additional Chief Secretary Fata Arbab Muhammad Arif and Rustam Shah Mohmand, a retired bureaucrat who served as chief secretary of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and ambassador to Afghanistan and is a nominee of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in the committee.
The TTP-nominated negotiators Professor Muhammad Ibrahim Khan, who is provincial head of the Jamaat-e-Islami, and Maulana Yousaf Shah, who is an aide to Maulana Samiul Haq and is coordinator of the committee, also attended the talks.
The TTP Shura was represented in the talks by Qari Shakil, who belongs to Mohmand Agency, Azam Tariq, who is from the Mehsud tribe in South Waziristan, Qari Bashir, Dr Hussain, who is a pharmacist and cleric, and a fifth person whose name could not be ascertained. Maulana Yousaf Shah and Prof Ibrahim had earlier said that Maulana Zakir too would be representing the TTP Shura, but it wasn’t clear if he attended the meeting on Wednesday.
According to sources, the meeting took place at the house of Mohammad Jamil, a retired subedar of the Levies. The Bilandkhel area is inhabited by the Bangash tribe.After welcoming the government negotiators, the TTP Shura members asked them whether they had been fully empowered and had the authority to make decisions.
“At this stage, the members of the government committee phoned Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and informed him about the question posed by the Taliban. After speaking to the minister, the committee members came back and told the TTP Shura members that they had the power to make decisions,” said an insider of the meeting.
Pleading anonymity, he said formal talks then started between the two sides and the first session continued till noon. He said the talks were suspended for lunch and prayers and then continued till the evening. “Both sides carefully listened to each other for seven hours,” the source said.
Senior members of the Taliban alleged that the government had failed in showing sincerity in talks.
“After announcing a ceasefire on March 1, we made three demands from the government and the government agreed with us. We demanded a separate peace zone in the tribal areas where we could live and easily move. Second, we asked for the immediate release of our non-combatant prisoners, including women, children and elderly people. They are not militants but were taken into custody for being relatives of the militants. The third demand was for an end to the extra-judicial killing of TTP prisoners in jails,” a senior member of the Taliban told The News on condition of anonymity.
He said they were happy that there has been a considerable decline in the extra-judicial killing of their jailed members, but the government didn’t fulfil its commitment regarding the designation of a peace zone and release of non-combatant prisoners.
“We admit that the extra-judicial killing of our people has stopped but they are being tortured since the start of the peace talks,” the Taliban commander alleged, adding that even then they decided to continue the peace process.
He said they had already delivered a list of 300 of their non-combatant prisoners to the Taliban negotiations committee, which handed it over to the government. He added that most of the civilian prisoners belong to Swat and other places in Malakand Division.
“Some of our people actually didn’t want to stop fighting against the government. We persuaded them and asked them to give us names of their prisoners. It made them happy and they stopped fighting. But now when they realise that the government was not going to free their people, they will not care about the ceasefire,” the TTP commander noted.
Another TTP commander in North Waziristan also said there was no breakthrough in the first round of talks with the government committee because the government did not take steps that could make the negotiations fruitful.
“We sincerely started this peace process despite the opposition of some of our people, but now only the government can make it productive,” he said.Wishing not to be named, he said they have decided to extend the ceasefire till the talks continued.
Meanwhile, the members of the Taliban negotiations committee led by Maulana Samiul Haq returned to Peshawar on Wednesday evening after the end of the direct talks and spoke to the media.
Talking to reporters, Maulana Samiul Haq termed the first direct meeting between the two sides as a great success and said they would continue their efforts till the logical conclusion of the talks.
“The ice has melted. Both sides sat together. They attentively listened to each other and gave positive signal for the success of the talks,” he said. He added that the two sides would meet again after two days.
Prof Ibrahim said after succeeding in making the ceasefire on March 1 they had now been successful in bringing the two sides to the negotiation table. “This is no doubt a great success and the nation would soon hear good news,” he remarked.
He said that the war and lawlessness that continued for more than 10 years have made the life of the people miserable. He expressed optimism that peace would be restored soon and the efforts that both the sides have been making would bear fruit. He urged the people to pray for the success of the talks and restoration of peace in the country.
Online adds: At the conclusion of the first direct talks between the Taliban and the official committee, it has been decided that the ceasefire would be extended and prisoners be released besides ensuring continued negotiations between the warring groups.
In a statement, the Taliban spokesman Shahidullah Shahid announced that a request was also submitted by the Taliban to restrict the army troops’ movement in order to facilitate the Taliban’s routine activities. The government has so far not responded to this request.
After the conclusion of the dialogue, the Taliban committee proceeded to an unknown destination, while the official committee would be submitting its report to Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan after which further rounds of dialogue would be planned.Sources said the issue of the newly surfaced Taliban faction named Ahrarul Hind also cropped up during the meeting. The Taliban assured they would investigate the issue.
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