Talking to BBC Urdu Service in Akora Khattak on Monday, head of TTP negotiators' committee Maulana Samiul Haq
...the
Godfather of the Taliban,leader of his own faction of the JUI. Known as
Mullah Sandwichfor his habit of having two young boys at a time...
said FC and other law-enforcement agencies had set up checkposts in many areas, leaving the Taliban unable to move about freely.
He said there would be frequent rounds after formal talks started for which there should be a free peace zone so that dialogue could progress without hindrance.
Maulana Haq said at present the Taliban leadership was underground for fear of arrest.
In reply to a question, he expressed ignorance about the whereabouts of TTP chief Mullah Fazlullah
...son-in-law of holy man Sufi Mohammad. Known as Mullah FM, Fazlullah had the habit of grabbing his FM mike when the mood struck him and bellowing forth sermons. Sufi suckered the Pak govt into imposing Shariah on the Swat Valley and then stepped aside whilst Fazlullah and his Talibs imposed a reign of terror on the populace like they hadn't seen before, at least not for a thousand years or so. For some reason the Pak intel services were never able to locate his transmitter, much less bomb it. After ruling the place like a conquered province for a year or so, Fazlullah's Talibs began gobbling up more territory as they pushed toward Islamabad, at which point as a matter of self-preservation the Mighty Pak Army threw them out and chased them into Afghanistan...
.
Our Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
Bureau adds: Professor Mohammad Ibrahim Khan, a member of the Taliban negotiating team, has suggested that a general amnesty and withdrawal of troops from at least two areas of South Wazoo could play an important role in resolving the issue of militancy.
"The issues of withdrawal of army from Makeen and Ladha areas of South Waziristan and a general amnesty for turbans will come under discussion during a meeting between the government negotiating committee and leaders of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain's Shura," he told members of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
cabinet belonging to the Jamaat-e-Islami
...
The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka
The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an
independentbranch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
on Monday.
In a blurb issued after the meeting, JI information secretary Advocate Israrullah quoted Prof Ibrahim as saying that the army could pull out troops from Makeen and Ladha if it could not leave the entire area of the Mehsud tribe.
"The Taliban have not laid down any demand or condition for meeting the government committee. These are just proposals," said Prof Ibrahim, who had held consultations with the Taliban Shura in North Waziristan last week.
The Shura wants to meet the government committee in Makeen or Ladha. Both Baitullah Mehsud and Hakeemullah Mehsud were from Ladha.
The blurb said that Professor Ibrahim and Maulana Yousaf Shah had asked the Taliban Shura to release Mohammad Ajmal Khan, Vice Chancellor of Islamia College University, Peshawar, and the Shura did not refuse to release him. Mr Ajmal Khan was kidnapped in September 2010.
Sources said the TTP might release VC Ajmal Khan after meeting the government committee. "He (Ajmal) may be released very soon," said one source.
Prof Ibrahim said they had also asked the TTP to release Ali Haider Gilani, son of former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani
... Pakistain's former prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics could be awe-inspiring ...
, and Shahbaz Taseer, son of Salman Taseer.
He said the Taliban would definitely seek a general amnesty for their people who were either in government custody or on the list of desperados.
According to the blurb, the Taliban committee has handed over a list of 300 women, children and non-combatant elderly people to Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan for their release and may come up with another list.
The TTP claims that these people are in the custody of security forces, but the army has denied it.
According to PPI, Prof Ibrahim said the Taliban and government committees would meet in a day or two. The likely venue will be Miranshah
... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a
ministatein centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas...
, Bannu Airport or F.R. Bannu, depending on an agreement between the two sides.
The Taliban were not in favour of Miranshah because they did not want to create problems for Hafiz Gul Bahadur.