Pakistani Taliban commander welcomes talks offer

August 23, 2013 11:42 am | Updated November 16, 2021 09:25 pm IST - DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan

A senior Pakistani Taliban commander welcomed the government’s recent offer to hold peace talks, raising the possibility the militant group has changed its stance after shunning negotiations earlier this year.

Asmatullah Muawiya, head of the Taliban’s faction of fighters from central Punjab province, said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif “demonstrated political maturity” by reiterating his offer to hold peace talks in a speech on Monday.

“If the present government takes an interest in solving matters seriously and with prudence, then there is no reason why jihadi forces active in Pakistan shouldn’t respond to it positively,” Muawiya said in a statement sent to journalists on Thursday.

The main Pakistani Taliban spokesman, Shahidullah Shahid, said Muawiya was expressing his own opinion but was closely tied to the group’s leadership. Shahid said the leaders had not yet made a decision about whether to re-engage on peace talks. The leadership will hold a meeting on Friday to discuss Mr. Sharif’s offer, but will never agree to lay down their arms, said Shahid.

Muawiya praised the government’s decision on Sunday to halt all state executions temporarily, just days ahead of the planned hangings of several al-Qaeda-linked militants.

The Prime Minister “strengthened the wish of peace by suspending punishment for prisoners,” Muawiya said.

The previous government had put in place a moratorium on executions. The current government initially indicated it would end that moratorium, but said that executions were halted until Mr. Sharif held talks with President Asif Ali Zardari.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.