Pakistani Taliban Suggest Mediators For Dialog With Gov’t

Islamabad, Feb, 2, IRNA -- Pakistani Taliban Saturday proposed names of political and religious leaders for “mediation” with the government’s dialogue committee, the Taliban spokesman said. The Taliban spokesman, Shahidullah Shahid, confirmed to the media that the group’s central council on Saturday unanimously decided to nominate a five-member committee to begin interaction with the government. “The Taliban central council and leaders of the ‘shura-e-Mehsood’ unanimoulsy agreed to positively respond to the government’s dialogue offer,” Shahidullah Shahid said. He said the council meeting lasted for an hour and endorsed the decisions by the TTP’s political council. The government has already formed a four-member committee for talks with the government. Coordinator of the governmentˈs committee, Irfan Siddiqui had urged the Taliban to announce their committee to initiate the process. The Taliban proposed five leaders for their committee including senior opposition leader Imran Khan, chief of Jamiat ulema-e-Islam, Maulana Sami-ul-Haq, Chief of Jamaat-e-Islami, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Prof. Mohammad Ibrahim, and a former provincial minister, Mufti Kifayatullah. Prof. Ibrahim, confirmed that the Taliban had contacted him on Saturday and requested him to play role of mediators on their behalf. “We will play the role of mediators and messengers and we will deliver messages from the Taliban to the government and will convey the government’s messages to the Taliban leadership,” the Jamaat leader told the media. Another member of the Taliban committee, Maulana Abdul Aziz, prayers leader of the Red Mosque, also confirmed the Taliban contacted and requested him to mediate. “I have neither accepted nor refused to play the role of mediator. I will review the situation and will make a final decision,” Maulana Aziz told reporters. “I think the Taliban demands like the enforcement of Islamic Sharit will never be accepted by the government,” he said. He said the Taliban spokesman had contacted him by the phone on Saturday./end