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Govt, Taliban negotiators reach consensus on ceasefire
[DAWN] Members of the government and the Pak Taliban negotiating committees on Wednesday reached a consensus regarding extending the ceasefire, the latter had ended last week, DawnNews reported.

The decision was taken at the meeting, which took place at Punjab House and had extension of the ceasefire, release of non-combatant Taliban prisoners and establishment of a peace zone high on the agenda.

It had been convened by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and was the first joint meeting of the committees after the TTP's announcement of ending the ceasefire.

Speaking to media representatives after the meeting, head of the TTP negotiators' committee, Maulana Samiul Haq
...the Godfather of the Taliban, leader of his own faction of the JUI. Known as Mullah Sandwich for his habit of having two young boys at a time...
said that an atmosphere of confidence and trust was prevailing on both the sides.

He said the two committees have agreed to form a new subcommittee to address reservations shown by both sides.

The chief of his own faction of Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam
...Assembly of Islamic Clergy, or JUI, is a Pak Deobandi (Hanafi) political party. There are two main branches, one led by Maulana Fazlur Rahman, and one led by Maulana Samiul Haq. Fazl is active in Pak politix and Sami spends more time running his madrassah. Both branches sponsor branches of the Taliban, though with plausible deniability...
(JUI-S), who is known as "Father of Taliban" in the West, said that his committee will try to arrange a meeting with the TTP Shura this week.

"We will ask the Taliban leadership for steps that can prove productive for restoration of peace in the country," he said.

An official had earlier told Dawn that the progress of the grinding of the peace processor would be reviewed during the meeting.

Another official had said that the government expected the TTP not only to extend the ceasefire but also to reciprocate its goodwill gesture of releasing 19 non-combatant Taliban.
Posted by: Fred 2014-04-24
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=389889