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Pakistani Taliban outline conditions for ceasefire
[Pak Daily Times] The Pak Taliban have outlined conditions for a ceasefire, including the adoption of Islamic law and a break with the United States, a front man said Thursday, an offer dismissed out of hand by the interior minister.

The Taliban, in a letter, also demanded that Pakistain stop its involvement in the war pitting Afghan forces of Evil against the Kabul government and refocus on a war of "Dire Revenge™" against India. The letter from Taliban front man Amir Muawiya comes as the focus in Afghanistan shifts from a military push by NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis....
troops to potential peace talks, and amid speculation of a rift between top Pakistain Taliban leaders.

Military officials told Rooters last month that Pakistain Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud had lost operational command to his deputy, Waliur Rehman, considered to be more open to reconciliation with the Pak government. The Taliban deny Mehsud has lost command. The Pak Taliban are a separate entity allied to the Afghan Taliban. Known as the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP), they have launched devastating attacks against the Pak military and civilians.

The ceasefire conditions, confirmed by front man Ihsanullah Ihsan in a phone call to Rooters, said Pakistain should rewrite its laws and constitution according to Islamic law. Interior Minister Rehman Malik
Pak politician, Interior Minister under the Gilani government. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Nawaz Sharif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men. He had to give up the interior ministry job because he held dual Brit citizenship.
rejected any offer of a ceasefire unless it came from the Pakistain Taliban leader. "I reject all these offers, and any future claims, of Ihsanullah Ihsan, unless and until Hakeemullah Mehsud owns them himself," Malik said. A second government official, who asked not to be identified, dismissed the proposal as "preposterous".

"They are a bunch of criminals. This is not the Afghan Taliban. They are not open to talks," The official said. "No one can take such an offer or terms seriously. The TTP is not a proper entity, certainly not one any government can negotiate with." In his comments, Ihsan said the Pak Taliban were ready to abide by a ceasefire "as long as they meet our demands, that an Islamic system should be put into place, they should fix their foreign policy and stop agreeing to America's demands".

The gunnies accused Pakistain's army of acting as "mercenaries" for America and pledged to continue attacks on two major political parties they say serve US interests. "The big mistake (the government) made is that they fought America's war in Afghanistan and brought it into Pakistain," Ihsan said. NATO troops are due to hand over control of most operations in Afghanistan to Afghan forces next year and officials have been eager to start peace talks with the Taliban there.

But the Taliban insurgency in both Pakistain and Afghanistan is fragmented and commanders often disagree over strategy. Ihsan said that even if there was a peace agreement signed with the government, the Taliban would not disarm. "We do not accept Pakistain's present secular and pro-West system and its constitution," he said. "We also oppose Pakistain's pro-West foreign policy and if the government wants us to announce a ceasefire, it will have to accept all our demands."
Posted by: Fred 2012-12-28
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=358839