ISLAMABAD (February 24 2009): Chief of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Baitullah Mehsud has stopped his support in strategic planning and training to Taliban groups, operating in different areas of Fata and Swat. The announcement came after Mehsud formed a new alliance with Maulvi Nazir and Qari Gul Bahadar - the pro-Pakistan leaders, who are signatory to still intact North Waziristan peace agreement with the Federal government.

The new alliance, "Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen," in the twin agencies of Waziristan with Mulla Omar as its supreme leader, indicates that the TTP will remain in allegiance to the former Afghan ruler, who totally disowns and opposes the Taliban activities against the military and paramilitary forces inside Pakistan.

Informed sources told Business Recorder here on Monday that the formation of new alliance is the opening of a new chapter in the Taliban history that would have direct impact on the ongoing militancy both in Pakistan and Afghanistan. To a question if the new alliance is a tactical move by the Taliban leadership to prepare fighters for upcoming summer offensive in Afghanistan, the sources said that it would be premature to assume that.

"There could be some good news for both Pakistan and Afghanistan during next few months. There could be some good news for the new US government," the sources said. They said that it was encouraging that the international community did not out-rightly reject the agreement between the government and the defunct Tehrik Nafaz-e-Shariat Muhammadi (TNSM) on establishing Qazi courts in Malakand division and Kohistan district.

"Some US officials expressed their reservations on the agreement, but there were others, who praised it. Expressing reservations on an issue is one thing and opposing it or pressing a government to abolish it is another," the sources said. Though it was too late to give peace a chance, the new governments in Pakistan and the US had realised that peaceful means were never sincerely tried, they said.

The sources said that Pakistan's former military dictator General Pervez Musharraf (Retd) and the ex-US president George W Bush were not trying to give peace a chance because they were of the view that this development could have been judged as their weakness. Though Musharraf government had signed the peace agreement with Taliban in North Waziristan, he and his government were unable to use this agreement for the benefit of Pakistan as a whole. Musharraf was not at all liked either by the Taliban leadership or Fata people, they added.

New US President Barrack Obama's administration was not under any compulsion to go ahead with what it inherited from his predecessor, they said, adding that the widespread hatred for America was actually targeted towards Bush. The new US President could turn the table and he could find some love if the US policy of deterrence and use of force was revisited, they added.

The back channel negotiations with the Taliban in Afghanistan, they said, had been going on and some Gulf countries had been actively engaged in these efforts. The formation of "Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen" and the 13-member Shoora to look after the affairs of the TTP was also an indication that Baitullah Mehsud almost agreed to Maulvi Nazir and Qari Gul Bahadar not to carry out any activity inside Pakistan. Baitullah Mehsud never said that he was anti-Pakistan.

On the other hand, he expressed his readiness to defend Pakistan following India's war threats in the backdrop of November 2008 Mumbai attacks, they said. The sources said pro-Mulla Omar members would dominate the Shoora. In the past, Mulla Omar clarified several times that he had nothing to do with Taliban activities inside Pakistan. Nearly all the Taliban groups owe allegiance to Mulla Omar, they added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2009