[Dawn] A deputy leader of the Pakistain Taliban, reportedly ousted at the weekend by a krazed killer council, still favors peace talks with the Pak government, he told Rooters on Tuesday.Maulvi Faqir Mohammad, who commands Islamic fascisti of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP), or Pakistain Taliban, in the tribal agency of Bajaur near the Afghan border, has reportedly been in talks with the government in Islamabad over a peace deal.
The TTP, allied with the Afghan Taliban movement fighting US-led NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions...
forces in Afghanistan, is entrenched in the unruly areas along the porous frontier. It has pledged to overthrow the Pak government after the military started operations against the TTP.
Past peace pacts with the TTP have failed to bring stability, and merely gave the umbrella group time and space to consolidate, launch fresh attacks and impose their austere version of Islam on segments of the population.
The TTP leadership is split over new talks with the Pak government, with some hardliners rejecting them. Mohammad said, however, that he has never disobeyed the council.
"Whenever I've held talks with the government of Pakistain, I've held them with the permission and advice of the central leadership of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain," Mohammad said from
"When the Taliban in Afghanistan can talk to America, then why can't we talk to the government of Pakistain?"
Pakistain last month urged leaders of the Afghan Taliban movement to enter direct peace negotiations with Kabul, a possible sign that Islamabad is stepping up support for reconciliation in neighbouring Afghanistan.
A council which reportedly included TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud, ousted Mohammad, but he said he had "no information on this council, its members, or where its meeting was held."
"Except for Ehsanullah Ehsan, who contacted the media, no important Taliban leader has contacted me." Ehsanullah is the front man for the TTP and announced the demotion.