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| India-Pakistan |
| TTP must give up arms before talks: Malik |
| 2011-10-19 |
| [Dawn] Pakistain will only hold peace talks with Taliban beturbanned goons if they lay down their arms first, Interior Minister Rehman Malik Pak politician, current Interior Minister under the Gilani administration. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. He later joined the Pak Peoples Party and was chief security officer to Bhutto. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Näwaz Shärif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men. said on Tuesday, after both sides signalled willingness to consider negotiations. "The minimum agenda is that they give up arms and come forward and then there will be talks. But if they think they will keep Kalashnikovs in their hands and also hold talks, that will not happen," he told news hounds. Both sides have indicated recently they were open to talks, but analysts are sceptical the Taliban will ultimately agree. "The government is saying accept the constitution and lay down arms. But the cut-throats have other aims. They want to take over, gain power. They think negotiations are a joke," said security analyst Mahmood Shah. "How can you talk to groups that don't even respect the concept of Pakistain, never mind laying down arms?" The Tehrik-i-Taliban, or Taliban Movement of Pakistain (TTP), have been waging a campaign of attacks including suicide kabooms across the South Asian nation since 2007 in a bid to topple the government. A series of army offensives against Pak Taliban strongholds along the rugged mountainous border with Afghanistan has failed to contain the group, which is close to al Qaeda and is the biggest security threat to Pakistain. |
| Posted by:Fred |