A senior Pakistani Taliban leader says the militant group has opened peace talks with the government.
Deputy Taliban commander Maulvi Faqir Mohammad told reporters Saturday that talks were progressing well and that the group may soon sign a formal agreement with authorities.
Mohammad, whose fighters operate in the Bajaur tribal agency, said any peace deal emerging from the dialogue could be used as a “role model” for the rest of the insurgency-hit border region in northwestern Pakistan. He added that the government has also released scores of his fighters as a goodwill gesture, and militants, in return, stopped their attacks.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told a local TV station Saturday that talks are part of his government's policy to deal with the problem of militancy. He said it is an ongoing process — “first comes dialogue, then development and then deterrence.” He did not elaborate and did not directly confirm that talks are underway.
Reports of talks between the government and Taliban militants have been circulating in local and foreign media outlets for weeks, but both sides denied them. At that time, the Pakistani government had stated that there would be no talks unless militants lay down their arms.
A national conference of Pakistan's political and military leaders in September ended with a resolution to “give peace a chance” with militants.
The United States, the source of billions of dollars of aid to Pakistan, is unlikely to support the peace initiative with the Pakistani Taliban, which has close association with al-Qaida-led militants and Washington regards as a terrorist group.
Islamabad has struck peace deals with the Pakistani Taliban in the past, but the agreements did not last long. Militants used them to regroup and rebuild their strength to resume fighting the government and foreign troops in neighboring Afghanistan.
It also is not clear if the Pakistani Taliban is united enough as a group to reach a lasting deal.
The group has carried out hundreds of attacks, prompting the government to launch major military offensives to root out their bases.
Pakistan has come under pressure to eradicate militancy since U.S. special forces in May killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in northern Pakistani garrison city of Abbotabad, where he had apparently been living for years.
