ISLAMABAD - Special Assistant to Prime Minister on National Affairs and Coordinator of four-member government committee, Irfan Siddiqui, has welcomed the Tehreek-I-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) committee for initiating dialogue process.
Announcement of the five names by TTP to sit across the table on their behalf was a positive move, Siddiqui said and added that now they would just be waiting for the TTP team members to give a go-ahead to initiate formal negotiations.
On the other hand the political parties leaders named by TTP as their team members to hold talks with government’s negotiation team were yet not clear about their mandate as most of them were not even consulted before their inclusion in the negotiation team.
To review this new development, the political parties of these members have summoned the central executive bodies of their parties for today.
Although PTI spokesman had made it clear that Imran Khan would not become part of the committee but the party’s core committee scheduled for Monday would definitely be discussing this important matter.
Sources aware of the developments taking place on this front informed that JUI-F would likely to distance it from the TTP negotiations team in its apparent role. However, JUI-F chief Moulana Fazlur Rehman would accept the role of an observer to the negotiation process between the government and TTP.
So, in its Monday Shoora meeting JUI-F would most likely to stay away from the TTP announced team in which central leader of the party Mufti Kifayatullah was also named by TTP.
JUI-S chief Moulana Samiul Haq is also among the five-member team and most likely the Shoora meeting of JUI-S also called for today would recommend that the party chief would play active role in brokering peace between TTP and government team.
The sources in the Jamaat-I-Islami said that the JI Shoora meeting would deliberate on the role and scope of the team announced by the TTP which also included its KPK chief Prof. Ibrahim.
However, the sources said that after the likely dissociation of couple of members of the committee from the whole exercise TTP would be left with little choice but to come up with some new team members most likely the members of its central Shoora to discuss the nitty-gritty of the peace parleys with government through the political interlocutors announced by them.
The sources informed that it would take another few days for formal initiation of the dialogue between the TTP and government negotiation teams and by the time a set of pre-conditions for talks would also come from TTP which most likely carry certain demands to be met before the formal initiation of parleys.
The sources further said that the TTP announced team members which included Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf(PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam- Sami (JUI-S) chief Maulana Samiul Haq, JUI-F central leader Mufti Kifayatullah, Maulana Abdul Aziz and Jamaat-I-Islami KPK Amir Prof. Ibrahim would also hold a meeting to devise strategy of dialogue provided they decided to stay part of the committee.