ISLAMABAD: Talks between government of Pakistan’s tasked tribal elders and the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) concluded on Friday with no major progress on contentious demands put forward by the two sides other than an agreement to extend the ceasefire and continue peace talks.
Informed sources within the tribal elders, who on Friday returned to the country after holding several rounds of talks with the TTP in Kabul, told Business Recorder that they found the TTP leadership willing to continue the talks until rederessal of reservations on certain contentious demands.
Among other demands, retaining the independent status of tribal areas – reversal of the FATA merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – implementation of Sharia laws across Pakistan or at least in areas under their previous influence, are some crucial demands put forward by the TTP that would be further negotiated between the two sides, the sources added.
“I can only confirm that there has been no major breakthrough in the talks, but they (TTP) agreed to extend the ceasefire till dialogue continues and some conclusion is achieved,” a reliable informed source told this correspondent who requested anonymity as the tribal elders engaged in talks with the TTP have been asked not to share details with the media.
The government of Pakistan sent a 50-member delegation comprising tribal elders from 13 districts and some sitting and former parliamentarians from the merged tribal districts to Kabul on May 31, 2022.
The members of the tribal Jirga held several rounds of talks with the TTP negotiating team for three to four days in Kabul before returning to Peshawar on Friday where they gave a detailed briefing to senior government officials dealing with the ongoing peace talks with the TTP. The talks are being directly moderated and supervised by interim Interior Minister of Afghanistan Sirajuddin Haqqani who is also chief of the Haqqani Network, as well as by the Afghan intelligence chief Abdul Haq Wasiq.
“Although, talks were held in a positive atmosphere, the TTP needs to show flexibility,” said a tribal Jirga member on condition of anonymity who also stated that the TTP agreed to extend the ceasefire while the talk process is in place.
Another member of the tribal Jirga claimed that the TTP has agreed to changing the organization’s name and laying down arms prior to returning to their native towns in Pakistan when and as the final peace truce is brokered with the government of Pakistan.
However, this was not confirmed by the previous member who spoke to Business Recorder, saying he cannot confirm anything that was not agreed during the talks between the tribal elders and the TTP.
He further stated that the TTP was willing to hold more rounds of talks on their demands such as implementation of Islamic laws, laying down arms prior to their return to the country and dismantling ties with other militant organizations including the Islamic State – Khorasan (IS-K) also known as Daesh-Khorasan active in the region particularly in Afghanistan.
The tribal Jirga, which held talks with the TTP leadership, was led by former Senator Maulana Saleh Shah and comprised of representatives from 13-tribal districts, including former governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Engineer Shaukatullah Khan and former MNA Akhonzada Chittan from Bajaur, former federal minister Ghazi Gulab Jamal from Orakzai tribal district, ex-MNA from Khyber tribal district Shah Ji Gull Afridi, chairman Senate Standing Committee on States and Frontier Regions Senator Hilal-ur-Rehman from Mohmand tribal district, besides elders from other districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including from Swat, Hangu, North and South Waziristan.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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