Uptick in violence: Talks may stall if attacks continue

ISLAMABAD: Government negotiators told Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan’s (TTP) intermediaries on Friday that the fledgling peace process could not move forward unless the TTP ceased its violent attacks. “The Taliban should forthwith publicly announce cessation of all hostile acts that undermine peace and implementation of such pronouncement must be ensured,” said a joint statement following a meeting between the four-member government negotiating committee and the Taliban intermediary team at the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa House on Friday.

The meeting came a day after the TTP claimed credit for a deadly bomb attack on a police bus in Karachi which killed over a dozen policemen and injured many more. The session was supposed to discuss progress in peace efforts following the Waziristan trip of the Taliban intermediaries – but the discussion was overshadowed by the Karachi bombing. Irfan Siddiqi, coordinator of the government committee, confirmed to The Express Tribune that they sought a clarification from the Taliban on whether they were interested in talks or not. “We expect a direct, public pronouncement from the Taliban that they want to pursue dialogue. And such an announcement must be followed by practical steps. They must prove [by ceasing violent activities] that they want to pursue dialogue,” he added. “The Taliban asked for three days to respond to the government’s demand.” The meeting was attended by government negotiators Irfan Siddiqi, Maj (retd) Muhammad Amir, Rahimullah Yousafzai, Rustam Shah Mohmand and Taliban intermediaries Maulana Samiul Haq, Professor Ibrahim and Maulana Yousuf Shah.

Apparently Qari Shakeel, the head of the TTP political shura, spoke to the intermediaries directly by telephone and pledged to respond to the government within the next 72 hours. Shakeel also said that a meeting of the shura would be convened soon and the TTP would then respond to the government’s demand. According to the statement, the two sides regretted the unabated ‘anti-peace activities’ in the country and said that such actions would have a negative impact on the ongoing peace efforts. Referring to the Karachi bombing, the government negotiators said that it would become difficult to pursue peace talks if such incidents continued to happen. “We have clearly told the Taliban committee that talks cannot take place if the TTP doesn’t cease attacks,” Siddiqi said. “We haven’t been able to offer concrete results to the nation after 15 to 20 days of talks. Conversely, around two dozen terror attacks have occurred during this period which claimed over 100 lives.” The Taliban intermediaries expect progress over the next few days. “Currently, there is no ceasefire, but we hope some progress will be made in two or three days,” Maulana Yousuf Shah, the Taliban committee’s coordinator, told The Express Tribune. The Taliban intermediaries also admitted that the recent attacks would have negative impact on the peace process. They said that the government should also publicly announce that it would not carry out any ‘provocative’ activity. They added that it was necessary for durable peace that both sides did not use force. “The first priority is establishment of peace in the country. Negotiations should not be through the media,” Maulana Samiul Haq told journalists after the meeting. According to the statement, the government negotiators reiterated their stance that more confidence-building measures would follow only after complete cessation of hostilities in the country. Published in The Express Tribune, February 15th, 2014.