Pakistan govt. shelves peace talks plan with Taliban
Iran Press TV
Tue Nov 12, 2013 1:41PM GMT
The Pakistan government has virtually shelved its plan to revive peace talks effort with militant groups operating across the violence-wracked country
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told parliament on Tuesday that no dialogue could make headway until the United States stopped drone strikes at militant hideouts in the country's troubled northwest.
The minister said the dialogue process initiated by the Islamabad government had been 'sabotaged' after Taliban chief Hakeemullah Mehsud was killed in the US drone strike in North Waziristan tribal region nearly two weeks ago.
The senior government official also criticized the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group for not taking serious the government offer of peace talks.
"It takes two hands to clap and not when there is talk of 'dialogue, dialogue' from this side and 'refusal, refusal' from there," the minister said.
The remarks come as pro-Taliban militants in Pakistan are threatening a new wave of attacks against the government after naming their new chief.
Mullah Fazlullah was appointed chief of the group on Thursday -- nearly a week after a US drone strike killed his predecessor, Hakimullah Mehsud.
The new chief is known for his fierce rejection of talks with Islamabad. The militant group has also said that it will target army and government installations in Punjab Province.
"We will target security forces, government installations, political leaders and police," Asmatullah Shaheen, the head of the Pakistani Taliban leadership council, was quoted as saying on Friday.
Fazlullah, believed to be in his late 30s, led the bloody occupation of the Swat Valley of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province in 2008-09, and pioneered a violent campaign against female education in the valley.
He earned the nickname of 'FM Mullah' for his use of a roving transmitter to broadcast speeches against education for women and girls.
Since his eviction from Swat in an army operation in 2009, Fazlullah moved to Afghanistan's Kunar Province from where he has launched a number of deadly attacks against the Pakistani security forces, including one in September that killed Major General Sanaullah Khan Niazi.
Pro-Taliban militants have increased their attacks across Pakistan since Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif came to power in May.
Sharif has been an advocate of peace talks with Taliban militants since his election campaign which ended in his victory six months ago.
JR/PR
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
