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| India-Pakistan |
| NWFP govt asks Taliban to lay down arms for talks |
| 2008-11-19 |
| The NWFP government on Tuesday set laying down of weapons as the foremost condition for peace talks with the Swat-based Taliban, official sources told Daily Times. The condition was presented before members of a Kanjoo Peace Jirga, who met members of the NWFP Assembly from Swat district at the Frontier House to discuss a possible truce in the valley. The peace jirga, led by Inamur Rehman, informed the MPAs that the Taliban were ready for 'unconditional' talks with the government and that their chief [Fazlullah] would abide by the decisions of the jirga, the sources said. The meeting between the jirga and the members of the provincial assembly, which was also attended by Awami National Party's (ANP) provincial President Afrasiab Khattak, was the third in the last few weeks. Environment Minister Wajid Ali Khan, Science and Technology Minister Ayub Ashari, MPAs Sher Shah, Jafar Shah, Dr Haider Ali, Waqar Ahmad Khan and Shamsher Khan were present. The sources said the NWFP government asked jirga members to ensure that the Taliban do not violate the peace agreement, if it were ever reached in the future. "We are apprehensive, because the May 21 agreement signed with the Taliban was broken by those in Waziristan," said a senior government official. A 15-point agreement reached in May between the Taliban in Swat and the NWFP government was set aside following threats by the so-called Waziristan-based chief of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Baitullah Mehsud. "Talks will not be initiated unless the jirga assures the government that the Taliban will lay down arms and abide by any decision taken by the jirga consisting of MPAs from Swat and members of the Swat-based Kanjoo Peace Jirga," said the official. The Kanjoo jirga held talks with Taliban leader Fazlullah at an undisclosed location in Swat three days ago and obtained his consent to abide by the jirga's decisions, said another source. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 "Why should we lay down our arms?" "Because you can't talk too good when you're dead." |
| Posted by: mojo 2008-11-19 16:48 |