Pakistan parties back talks with Taliban
Main coalition and opposition parties repose “full confidence” in prime minister’s efforts to begin negotiations.
Pakistani politicians have backed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s calls to begin peace talks with the Taliban aimed at ending more than a decade of bloodshed.
Representatives from the main coalition and opposition parties who had met for an All Parties Conference (APC) on Monday asked the government to “initiate the dialogue” with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
“We repose full confidence in (the) efforts of the Prime Minister in this behalf and call upon the federal government to initiate the dialogue with all stakeholders,” said a resolution passed by the representatives.
The move came a month after Sharif called for talks with the TTP during his first televised address to the nation since taking office after winning elections in May.
Pakistan’s army and intelligence chiefs also attended the conference, as did secular parties that made up the previous government which backed military operations against the armed groups.
Move welcomed
Shahidullah Shahid, the main spokesman for the Tehreek-e-Taliban, welcomed the move and said that a Taliban Shura (Council) would meet in next two days to discuss the issue.
“We welcome it, the government has for the first time shown seriousness in holding peace talks,” Shahid told the AFP news agency by telephone from an undisclosed location.
“Our shura will meet in next two days and will discuss this offer. We will chalk out a strategy for the talks and will later announce it.”
Pakistan had initiated peace talks with the Taliban in the past. But previous deals failed and came under sharp criticism both domestically and by the US.
Pakistan says more than 40,000 people have been killed in the country as a result of bomb and suicide attacks carried out by the Taliban and al-Qaeda who oppose Islamabad’s alliance with the US and NATO.