ISLAMABAD: The government and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan’s (TTP) respective committees may meet for peace negotiations on Thursday (tomorrow) according to Irfan Siddiqui, coordinator of the government’s 4-member committee, reported Express News on Wednesday.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Maulana Samiul Haq of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam — Samiul Haq (JUI-S) stated that talks could not be held today because the members have other commitments.
Samiul Haq is one of the three members of the TTP committee.
The government’s representatives will be informed about the time and place for the meeting by the TTP committee.
The two sides were supposed to meet at 2pm at Jamaat-e-Islami’s Islamabad office on Tuesday to formulate a roadmap before the start of formal talks. However, Irfan Siddiqui approached JUI-S chief Maulana Samiul Haq to ask for clarifications before the talks formally commence.
They raised unnecessary issues, Samiul Haq said on Wednesday, remarking that the government wanted to know about the number of members in their committee among other details.
The JUI-S chief also responded to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s suggestion that a member of the TTP should be included in the committee.
“This is a rather strange request. We are an independent committee. We do not belong to the government or the Taliban,” he stated, adding that they would be looking out for the interests of both sides in the talks.
He stressed that their role would be of intermediaries who would go speak to the TTP and then relay their message to the government.
Earlier on Wednesday, during his speech at the Kashmir rally, Samiul Haq had stated that the Taliban are fighting for the constitution of Pakistan.
The government is powerless in putting an end to the drone strikes and distancing Pakistan from the ongoing war, he had also said in his speech.
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