Pakistani Politicians Oppose Military Operation Against Taliban

Islamabad, Jan. 29, IRNA – Senior Pakistani political leaders on Tuesday opposed military operation against the Taliban and emphasized negotiations with them. Speaking at a conference in Islamabad they said that military operation in North Waziristan tribal region will further destabilize the country. Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam(S) Chief Maulana Samiul Haq said that any military operation against Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan will be a suicide for Pakistan as the militants will spread to each and every corner of the country once the government starts action. He stated this while speaking at a forum “Peace and Reconciliation in Afghanistan” organized by Center for Discussion and Solutions. “If you wage a war against the Taliban, they either will go to the mountains or spread to the cities and they can also go to Afghanistan and you will find nothing except destruction”, he said. He said the religious forces will not support military operation and want the government to pursue dialogue. He said the Taliban had been positive when when he has sent message to them on behalf of the government. He noted that it is obvious that the United State does not want to resolve the issue through dialogue and it was the reason that the Prime Minister back-tracked the negotiation despite the fact that he was given the mandate to establish contacts with the militants to initiate negotiation. He further said that death of Osama was considered a big victory for 60% of the countries around the world, but the US is still afraid that bin Laden will come back alive after the withdrawal of Nato troops from Afghanistan. He commented that US has been badly stuck in Afghanistan like the USSR and Afghanistan has virtually become the graveyard for the US troops. He suggested that government should rather disassociate itself from the so-called US war on terror, saying that without it it cannot come out of this difficult situation. He said that the government should start negotiation with Taliban rather going to use forces. He mentioned that if the US wants to talks with the Afghan Taliban then what is harm for Pakistan to adopt this policy for the Pakistani Taliban. Rehman said US presence in Afghanistan after 2014 should be seen in the perspective of Islam and the South Asia. He said that why the US wants to keep its troops in Afghanistan even after 2014 and why it maintains the air and land bases. He said that it should not think that US will only fight in Afghanistan, but the presence of US and allied forces means a long term threat to the region. “We just talk about terrorism and extremism which is petty issue in the presence of US in our region”, he maintained./end