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| India-Pakistan |
| Pakistan seeks to allay doubts on Taliban talks |
| 2008-05-24 |
| Pakistan on Friday tried to downplay concerns about peace talks with the militants linked to al Qaeda and Taliban, saying it was engaging only with those who renounce violence. Authorities in the North West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan Wednesday signed a peace deal on Wednesday with militants in the Swat valley, promising to pull out troops from the region in return for a commitment from the insurgents to cease attacks. The government is also negotiating a peace deal through tribal elders with Baitullah Mehsud, the de facto leader of the Pakistani Taliban based in South Waziristan tribal region, which is regarded as a safe haven for al Qaeda militants. The United States has expressed concerns over these talks by Pakistan's new government, led by the party of slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, saying that deals with militants might allow them to plot attacks in Pakistan and abroad. Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the government was committed to use force, whenever needed, but a military option alone could not end violence. "We believe that military action alone will not be effective in permanently ending the phenomenon of terrorism," a foreign ministry statement quoted him as saying. Pakistan has a three-pronged strategy to deal with militancy and terrorism: political, socio-economic and military, he said. Pakistan has cut peace deals in the past also, but critics including western allies, have complained that these resulted in militants regrouping and intensifying cross-border attacks on NATO forces in Afghanistan. |
| Posted by:Fred |